Originally Posted by
gcuk
I've always been impressed with the attitude of the airlines in the USA to weather disruption. In severe weather they issue what they term a 'travel waiver' for specific airports and any ticket for flights to, from or through that airport on designated days can be re-routed or re-issued for dates within a specific period free of charge, whether the actual flight is cancelled or not.
Some would say that the attitude of the airlines in the USA is somewhat lifeboated by their ability to enter into, familiarity with and, indeed, apparent enthusiasm for Chapter 11.
I do agree, however, that travel waivers are often handy, but US commercial aviation really is a wholly different beast to that of Europe, where volumes of passengers, frequency of service and alternative routings (on same carrier) are much lower, whilst overall consumer protection (at least currently) is much higher.
And this coming from the author and first-hand experiencer of
this - so I do have some experience of severe weather ops!