US gets partial EU261 law

[A1TAPE]

I wonder how this will affect the airlines. I know as dispatchers wr and the pilots are the only ones who can delay or cancel a flight HOWEVER would this rule cause more pressure to come down on us from higher ups (management or even bridges)?

I know we shouldn’t ever succumb to this pressure and pushback when possible to ensure safety of flight but let’s say it’s summer, you and your PIC delay the flight due to say TS at the destination or enroute, would higher ups consider just saying F it and cancel the flight entirely (in the computer system) at the 2 hour delay mark if it was shown that we could NOT launch within 3 hours? Would bridge teams treat it as the DOT3 rule and avoid it at all cost? I don’t and never will succumb to external pressure from higher ups or bridges but some airlines run their schedules so razed thin that even one cancel ruins the whole op for the day.

 

[Bobber]

Thank God. I hope this eliminates the forever delay and or RON to fly 2 passengers. But hey CF is the highest it's ever been. #bestteamever

 

[who'swho]

Does this affect wx/atc delays? Those fall under "uncontrollable". I could see it impacting the flight that has been delayed overnight due to MX and is operating simply for completion factor.

 

[Empennagie]

View attachment 77578I wonder how this will affect the airlines. I know as dispatchers wr and the pilots are the only ones who can delay or cancel a flight HOWEVER would this rule cause more pressure to come down on us from higher ups (management or even bridges)?

I know we shouldn’t ever succumb to this pressure and pushback when possible to ensure safety of flight but let’s say it’s summer, you and your PIC delay the flight due to say TS at the destination or enroute, would higher ups consider just saying F it and cancel the flight entirely (in the computer system) at the 2 hour delay mark if it was shown that we could NOT launch within 3 hours? Would bridge teams treat it as the DOT3 rule and avoid it at all cost? I don’t and never will succumb to external pressure from higher ups or bridges but some airlines run their schedules so razed thin that even one cancel ruins the whole op for the day.

Few items. First, FARs only give the responsibility for cancelling to dispatch, not the pic, but realistically the company can cut what they want. The FAR was written to give you the authority to stop the operation, not purposefully push flights. I think you would not be long for the job if you decided to cut flights because you feel it's financially not viable.

Second, this rule for sure is going to be impactful, I'm also curious if this will cause a shift in Completion Factor being most important to D:0 or A:14 being operational God. Also curious to see what airlines do to adjust their schedules to manage this...

0.02¢

 

[gopherdx]

The EU airlines seem to be handling it just fine. I do reckon it will take some schedule integrity adjustments, though.

 

[flynryan692]

So if a flight is delayed enough that it might trigger a refund, can they rebook everybody on an extra section/ other flight the same day and avoid refunding them?

 

[DaWolf85]

So if a flight is delayed enough that it might trigger a refund, can they rebook everybody on an extra section/ other flight the same day and avoid refunding them?

Based on my reading of the final rule, it's all based on full refunds. There is no compensation where you also get to go where you wanted to go. If you elect to fly, whether on a delayed flight or a new flight you were changed to by the airline, you are forfeiting your right to any compensation under this rule.

There's also some tricky bits with offering vouchers vs. offering cash refunds by default. They can offer vouchers by default, but then no response to the itinerary change has to be treated as a rejection, and a cash refund automatically sent. If they offer cash refunds by default, then they can treat no response as accepting your delayed flight or changed itinerary, and you get nothing. So we might see some airlines offering cash refunds now. Just depends on what airlines think will lose them the least money.

 

[MacJohn92]

Based on my reading of the final rule, it's all based on full refunds. There is no compensation where you also get to go where you wanted to go. If you elect to fly, whether on a delayed flight or a new flight you were changed to by the airline, you are forfeiting your right to any compensation under this rule.

There's also some tricky bits with offering vouchers vs. offering cash refunds by default. They can offer vouchers by default, but then no response to the itinerary change has to be treated as a rejection, and a cash refund automatically sent. If they offer cash refunds by default, then they can treat no response as accepting your delayed flight or changed itinerary, and you get nothing. So we might see some airlines offering cash refunds now. Just depends on what airlines think will lose them the least money.

I'm sure the legal departments of the majors are busy revamping their contracts of carriage, while simultaneously finding every loophole they can exploit to keep things close to the status quo.

 

[Pepwave1]

"Schedule Integrity Adjustments"...
The idea that we all work for airlines that sort of lack the relationship to integrity in some capacity cracks me up every time...it's an honest statement...still cracks me up. I honestly think if people knew the behind the scenes bulls**t that happens daily, they'd drive more often...


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Another term I heard this past week was: "High Mins Dispatcher"