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Heavy rains and floods caused the delay of thousands of flights across the United States over the weekend.
The United States saw another round of flight cancellations and delays on Sunday.
FlightAware, a service that tracks flights, reports that as of Sunday morning, 912 flights have been canceled.Throughout the country, 6,378 flights have been delayed.
On Sunday, Chicago O'Hare experienced the greatest flight cancellations and delays, with over 12% of cancellations and more than 40% of delays per a report from CNN.
There were heavy rains in Chicago, and Cook County was under a flash flood warning for some of the day that explained Why Are Flights Being Delayed.
A total of 657 flights were canceled and 7,267 flights were delayed on Saturday within, into, or out of the United States.
According to FlightAware's report, American Airlines had 4% of its flights canceled and 24% of its Saturday flights delayed.
The website indicated United had 4% of its flights canceled and 23% of its Saturday flights delayed, while Delta had 2% of its flights canceled and 22% of its Saturday flights delayed.
FlightAware reported on Saturday US flight cancellations affected 36% of Southwest flights and 41% of JetBlue flights.
As of current reporting, FlightAware has reported the following data:
Total delays today: 8,118
Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today: 657
Total cancellations today: 1,280
Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today: 185
COVID-19 Pandemic Impact onUS Flight Delays
A recent surge in US flight delays has been linked with a wave of American workers deliberately leaving the job, dubbed the "great resignation."
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Flight cancellations remained consistent between 2011 and 2019 and happened at a relatively low rate. As reported by FlightAware, the figure varied between 1.1 % and 1.8 % in any one year throughout that time.
NBC News reported that US flight cancellations percentage increased to 5% in 2020 when the pandemic struck. As vaccines become accessible in 2021, the percentage decreased to 1.6 %.
What Is the Policy on Refunds?
A few days have passed since the U.S. The Department of Transportation declared it would take into account expanding the situations in which travelers would be entitled to reimbursements for changes to their travel plans.
Refunds may be issued in certain situations of US flight delays, such as when an airline modifies the destination airport, extends the layover, or changes the arrival or departure time by more than three hours.
Even if you bought a nonrefundable ticket, the Department of Transportation mandates that the airline issue a refund if a passenger's flight gets canceled and the person opts not to fly on a new schedule, according to a report from USA Today.
The guidelines become a little blurrier in the event of a delay. The DOT claims that if a "substantial" delay happens, travelers are entitled to compensation, although the department has not yet specified what constitutes a large delay.
In essence, this implies that, for the time being, it's up to individual airlines to decide how and when to make amends for delayed passengers.
This week, the DOT revealed its plans to make those regulations clearer and more consumer-friendly. The organization released a link for public input on revisions to its cancellation and delay compensation policies on Wednesday.
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