Game over man, game over....
 

Might wanna short JBLU.. This one's gonna hurt.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/airlines-give-automatic-refunds-canceled-flights-delayed-3/story?id=109573733

Read the details. Not as breaking as you think it is.

this won't cost any more money. they just have to pay what is owed sooner rather than later, that's all. you can't just read the headline, you have to read the details.

Yeah I also don't think this gonna be a big deal. Pax would have to find a better rebook option on a different airline, relatively quick at a time/price they prefer. Many aren't even savvy enough to do that if it even exists.

Anything to continue to pressure mgmt to actually care about delays is a net positive in the long run. And if this rule can be used to put pressure back on the governement to reduce ATC delays, even better.

it'll probably drive up walk up fares too.

It’ll probably drive up all fares. If airlines have to refund some money but still operate the same flight (extended delays) for approximately the same cost with less passengers, they’re gonna have to increase prices a bit to cover that. Passengers will be funding their own “travel insurance.”

Cue overselling flights....

But really, I still cant see a scenario where this affects us. Due to the VFR nature of our business model, people NEED to get to where they're going, because they have disney tickets, cruises, or whatever else they have to get to. They arent going to request a refund after a 4 hour delay, and maybe not even after a cancellation. Do you think the family of 5 is going to find a better fare on the competition the day of departure?

I just don't see it. But hey, anything to light a fire under our a** for reliability....

The vacation part isn’t the problem. It’s more like people going from Boston to Florida for a weekend to visit family or something like that. 6 hour delay on Friday afternoon? No thanks. Give me back my money and I’ll go next month. Lots of retired people with vacation homes and/or traveling to see friends. They’re flexible enough to go at a later time and just take their money back.

Here is the deal. Will this rule hurt B6 or help it? We are already in a bad spot finacially. We have, hands down, the worst operational performance of any US carrier. Instead of issuing travel credits, which are essentially free, we now have to automatically, without request, refund any fare that is delayed by 3 hours that someone nopes off of FOR ANY REASON. No carve outs for WX or ATC.

I'm sorry, but if I didn't know better I'd say B6 fathered Mayor Pete's child.

Before you say it, yes, I know.

I bet you there is a carve out for WX & ATC in the actual document, not the article. No Airliner is going to pay up for stuff ATC or mother nature did. You would've already heard a fire back from the industry if that was the case.