Stranded at the airport? Don’t forget Rule 240
My older brother forwarded me this article this morning and I thought it was well worth the post. Check it out below. It's by Peter Greenberg for TODAY.
Flight delayed or canceled? Peter Greenberg on how to get what you want
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few years ago, at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, I noticed something strange
on the departure boards. American Airlines had three flights scheduled
that afternoon from ORD to Boston, and all were apparently operating on
time. United, on the other hand, had three flights scheduled from ORD
to Boston, but none were operating on time. In fact, all three United
flights showed "canceled."
I smelled a rat. I went to the United counter and asked the reason for the cancellations. "Weather."
Weather?
The airlines couldn't have it both ways. Either American Airlines
pilots were irresponsible, crazy air jockeys who were going to tease
the gods and fly into the face of serious storms, or United's official
cancellation reason was a convenient untruth.
I checked the weather in both Chicago and Boston: totally clear.
I
went back out to the United gates and informed the counter agents that
I knew the weather was fine and also explained that all the American
flights were operating without problem. And then I invoked Rule 240 —
which states that in the event of any flight delay or cancellation
caused by anything other than weather, the airline would fly
me on the next available flight — not their next available flight,
which might not leave for another 24 hours.
And guess what happened? A lot of United passengers made it to Boston that day — on American.
Click here to go to the MSNBC TODAY website and read the full article.
