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Frontier Airlines and five foreign carriers have agreed to collectively refund more than $600 million to travelers whose trips were canceled or significantly delayed since the start of the COVID pandemic, the Department of Transport (DOT) said on Monday.
In an announcement ahead of the busy holiday travel season, the department also said it's fining those airlines $7.25 million for "extreme delays" in providing those refunds.
Ultra low-cost carrier Frontier, the only U.S. airline to face fines, is refunding $222 million and paying a $2.2 million civil penalty, the DOT said.
TAP Portugal will refund $126.5 million; Air India will pay $121.5 million; Aeromexico will pay $13.6 million; Israel's El Al will pay $61.9 million; and Colombia's Avianca will pay $76.8 million.
The five airlines also face fines between $750,000 and $1.4 million.
"When a flight gets canceled, passengers seeking refunds should be paid back promptly," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
"Whenever that doesn't happen, we will act to hold airlines accountable on behalf of American travelers and get passengers their money back. A flight cancellation is frustrating enough, and you shouldn't also have to haggle or wait months to get your refund."
Airlines are required under federal law to refund customers when a flight is canceled or significantly delayed and they don't wish to accept offers of vouchers or credit for future travel.
How to Request Refunds
The $600 million has already been paid to consumers, a DOT spokesperson told Newsweek on Tuesday.
"Still, there may be additional money owed to consumers," the spokesperson said.
"If consumers have not received a required refund or been informed by the six airlines on how to obtain the refund owed to them then they should file a complaint with us at www.transportation.gov/airconsumer."
Customers can also request refunds from Frontier by filling out a form on the airline's website here.
They can request refunds on TAP Portugal's page here, on Air India's website here, on Aeromexico's website here, on El Al's website here and on Avianca's website here.
Frontier spokesperson Jennifer de la Cruz told Newsweek that the airline also issued $92 million in "goodwill refunds" and redeemed credits and vouchers, including to people with non-refundable tickets who canceled on their own and were not entitled to a refund under federal law.
"In addition, the company provided over $2.7 million in refunds by voluntarily applying a more generous definition of a significant delay than was in effect at the time for customers who booked and purchased their tickets between March 25 and Oct 27, 2020," de la Cruz said. "These goodwill refunds of nearly $100 million demonstrate Frontier's commitment to treating our customers with fairness and flexibility."
Frontier and the Department of Transport have been contacted for further comment.
Earlier this year, the DOT launched a new airline customer service dashboard to help consumers see what they are owed when a flight is canceled or delayed because of an airline issue.
The department has also proposed stricter rules on when airlines would have to compensate passengers for canceled or delayed flights.
Update 11/15/22, 9:10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Department of Transport.
Update 11/15/22, 10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Jennifer de la Cruz.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more