Severe winter weather across the country has impacted airlines and their crews and caused record numbers of flight cancellations and delays over the past several days, leaving travelers stranded and carriers in search of operational solutions.
American Airlines faced the highest number of weather-related cancellations in its 100-year history, leaving the company in desperate need of pilots and flight attendants to pick up extra shifts.
As of time of publication, the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier had cancelled 653 mainline and regional flights on Wednesday, with nearly 1,077 delays, according to FlightAware, a digital aviation company that provides real-time flight tracking data.
"Teams across American continue to work around the clock to fully restore our operation following the significant impacts from Winter Storm Fern. We are grateful to our team members for their tremendous efforts this past weekend and this week as we've worked through this storm to take care of our customers," a representative for American Airlines said in a statement to ABC News.
American offered employees incentives on Wednesday, including double pay for flight attendants and an additional five hours of pay for pilots as the airline works to restore operations.
According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, some crew members have been left stranded and sleeping at airports, which has made it difficult to reach the scheduling department.
"Winter weather impacting many of American's hubs since last Saturday has led to widespread cancellations. As the operation deteriorated, many Flight Attendant trips began 'breaking,' preventing crews from completing their scheduled routings," a representative for the union told ABC News. "When Flight Attendants are unable to obtain their required FAA-mandated rest, disruption compounds, and causes additional delays and cancellations the following day."
While the numbers for American are an improvement from Tuesday, they pale in comparison to competitors like United, which had cancelled 11 flights on Wednesday (as of publication) and Delta, which had cancelled 14, according to FlightAware.
As American continues to work toward stabilizing operations, its major airport hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is faced with difficult ramp conditions, gate congestion and other disruptions due to the dangerous ice conditions.
American Airlines said as operations resumed at DFW, "there has been a marked improvement in departures and arrivals," with expectations for more completed flights throughout the evening.
"Cancellations are not what we want for our customers or our team members, and teams across the airline are working diligently to minimize them," the airline representative said.
Travelers flying American are encouraged to check the airline's app online for the latest flight status, as well as utilize additional flexibility options detailed on the company's travel alerts page, which have been extended to Jan. 29.
The Department of Transportation rules regarding refunds, which are required by law for purchased airline tickets and fees for related services, makes them automatic, prompt, in the form of the original payment and for the full amount.
According to the official policy, travelers also have the option to accept alternative arrangements or travel credits if their original travel is impacted.
"If you chose to take a significantly delayed/changed flight or an alternative flight offered by the airline, you are not entitled to a refund under DOT rules," the department's website notes.
Canceled flights
A ticketed passenger is "entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel," the DOT website states.
Clear disruption definitions
The DOT website currently states that consumers are also "entitled to a refund if the airline significantly delays a flight or significantly changes a flight and the consumer chooses not to travel."
"Significant disruptions" are clearly defined across all airlines as a delay of three hours or more for domestic flights and six hours or more for international flights.
Previously, the duration that constituted a significant delay varied across most airlines. Some considered 90 minutes to be significant, while others considered it to be upward of four hours.
Baggage delay refunds
If a bag is delayed for more than 12 hours (or 15-30 hours for international flights), travelers are eligible for refunds on bag fees.
"To calculate how many hours your bag has been delayed, use the time you were given the opportunity to deplane from a flight at your final destination airport as the beginning of the delay and the time you picked up the bag from the arrival airport or the bag was delivered to a location that you and the airline have agreed on as the end of the delay," the DOT website states.
In order to receive the baggage fee refund, passengers must file a "mishandled baggage report" with their airline, the agency states.
Refunds for unfulfilled ancillary services
If airlines don't deliver on ancillary services such as Wi-Fi or lounge access, travelers can request refunds for those services.
24/7 customer service
Airlines are required to provide live customer service communication channels around the clock, whether through live chat or phone support.
