Flight delays are incredibly common. According to data from FlightAware cited by Forbes, this summer saw “an average of 30,000 delayed flights per day globally—including 7,000 to 9,000 delayed flights per day in the U.S.”
Most of the time, an airline will claim that these delays are due to weather. However, this isn’t always actually the case, according to TikTok user and flight attendant Cierra (@cierra_mistt).
In a video with over 2.1 million views, Cierra says, “Commercial airlines know when a flight should have gotten canceled, but they’ll still put it on a delay, and they won’t tell you how long it’s going to take you, because there’s actually a loophole in the FAA.”
@cierra_mistt #stitch with @Taco reacts ♬ original sound – Cierra Mistt
“Per FAA federal regulation, if a flight has to take a delay and the reason for that delay is ‘outside of the airline’s control,’ like weather or an employee strike, whatever the case may be, then the FAA has made it so where the airlines don’t have to give refunds to their passengers,” Cierra continues. “However, if a flight is canceled, it doesn’t matter what reason they give—they’re still obligated to pay each passenger a full refund.”
To prevent having to pay a full refund, Cierra says, airlines will simply continue the delay until a fix can be sorted, even though they are aware they should be simply canceling the flight.
There’s some data to support this idea. Any frequent traveler will know that airlines will often claim weather as the reason for their delays—something that is outside of their control. However, between January 2019 and February 2023, only about 0.65% of flights were actually delayed due to weather, according to data from the FAA.
In November 2021, author Bobby Laurie recounted for the Condé Nast Traveler an experience in which he was told via text message that his flight was delayed due to a mechanical issue, causing him to miss a connection. However, when his delayed flight landed, he was instead told that the delay was due to weather and that they would not be offering him accommodation, as the delay was outside of their control. Laurie then showed the text message to the airline staff—and eventually, he was able to get a refund for his accommodation from the airline.
“After spending the night in a cheap last-minute airport hotel, I departed the next morning for Washington, D.C., and filed for a refund of my expenses with the airline,” Laurie wrote. “It was approved, proving my flight was not weather delayed.”
In Cierra’s TikTok video, she offers users advice if they get stuck in the endless loop of delays.
According to the flight attendant, one should look for at least three replacement flights going from your current airport to your final destination. The flights do not have to be with the same airline. Instead of booking for your party size, she says, add 3 additional passengers. This will make it more likely that these flights have available seats to take you and your party.
Next, Cierra says, one should pull up their airline’s policy on delays. From there, they should approach the gate agent and tell them that they’d like to be rebooked onto one of the three flights they found. If necessary, they can reference the other flights, the fact that there are extra seats on these flights, and the airline’s policy on delays.
“The gate agent or the customer service agent has nothing to argue against you, and they have to rebook your flight,” Cierra summarizes.
In the comments section, users shared their thoughts on Cierra’s video.
“Did this exact thing less than twelve hours ago,” wrote a user. “Plot twist, if you’re really nice about it, you might get a meal voucher.”
“So the law needs to change that a delay must be classified as only an hour to two hours max anything after that it will be canceled,” suggested another.
“But why aren’t we building high speed trains tho,” asked a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Cierra via email.
