How to stay ahead of canceled flights

Last week, thousands of passengers faced unexpected flight cancellations due to severe winter weather.

Unfortunately, the list of canceled flights got significantly longer after a section of an Alaska Airlines aircraft ripped off in flight, prompting an emergency landing 20 minutes after takeoff. 

The FAA quickly ordered a temporary grounding of some Boeing Max 9 jetliners until inspections can be completed. The bulk of the affected planes are owned by two US airlines, impacting 171 jets.

The combination of predicted winter weather conditions and the grounding of hundreds of planes could affect flights for weeks. 

Here’s how to successfully navigate possible flight delays and/or cancelations due to weather or grounded planes.

1. Check your upcoming flights

According to VERIFY, Alaska and United are the only major US airlines that fly the Boeing 737 Max 9, with United being the largest operator of the plane type.

Note: Southwest and American operate a different variant of the Boeing 737 Max—one that is not affected by the current mandatory groundings.

If you’re traveling in the coming weeks on an Alaska or United flight, check the airline website or your confirmation email to see if your flight is one of the grounded planes. The airlines will substitute another plane (if it hasn’t already), but you may want to re-check or change your seat assignments based on the substituted aircraft.

The majority of the cancelations have already occurred, but keep an eye on the airline app and your email for any warning of cancelations. 

2. Get up to date on your rights

The US Department of Transportation has created a dashboard to share what US airlines provide to help passengers when a delay or cancellation is due to circumstances within the airline’s control.

The green checks indicate the airline has committed to that service or amenity; the red ones mean the airline has not made that commitment. 

What’s considered within the airline’s control? 

• Maintenance issues and staffing problems are considered within the airline’s control. 
• Weather and air traffic control issues are not.

3. Make appropriate flight changes

So, now that the airlines know that their Max 9s are grounded, it’s within their control to help passengers. If you have an upcoming flight on Alaska or United that was to be on one of the grounded planes, you can expect the airline to help you get a new seat assignment or even rebook you on another flight.

Also, when severe weather is predicted, the airlines usually offer increased flexibility for rebooking flights. Typically, you’ll see information about affected airports and what you can do on the airline’s website, like this one on United’s site:

And finally, some good news

The US aviation industry as a whole ended 2023 on a positive note—with the lowest flight cancelations in nearly a decade, according to the latest intel from the Department of Transportation.

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