When your refund never came
Since 2024, refunds owed by US airlines are automatic, in cash, to your original payment method, and the airline may not make you accept a voucher instead. You are owed one when the airline cancels, when your itinerary changes significantly, or when you paid for a service the airline did not provide.
You do not have to ask, and you do not have to fill in a form to be entitled to it.
What the regulation actually says
“(1) The consumer is scheduled to depart from the origination airport three hours or more for domestic itineraries and six hours or more for international itineraries earlier than the original scheduled departure time … (2) The consumer is scheduled to arrive at the destination airport three or more hours for domestic itineraries or six or more hours for international itineraries after the original scheduled arrival time”
In plain terms. The three-hour domestic and six-hour international thresholds are what make a change "significant".
Read 14 CFR 260.2 in full“Refunding fees for ancillary services that consumers paid for but that were not provided”
In plain terms. If you paid for something and did not get it, the fee comes back. Seat selection on a plane you never boarded, wifi that did not work, a checked bag on a cancelled flight.
Read 14 CFR 260.4 in full“Providing prompt refunds”
In plain terms. The rule requires the refund promptly, rather than at the airline’s convenience.
Read 14 CFR 260.10 in fullWhen 14 CFR Part 260 changed
Rights are not fixed. Each entry below is an amendment recorded in the regulation’s own source note, oldest first.
- Apr. 26, 2024 89 FR 32832The automatic-refund rule is published, defining for the first time what counts as a significant change.
- Aug. 12, 2024 89 FR 65536Amended.
Dates and Federal Register citations come from the source note published with the regulation. Where an entry carries no description, the source note records the amendment without summarising it, and we do not guess at what changed.
How often this actually happens
The rule tells you what you are owed. Federal performance data tells you how often the situation arises, and on which airlines. These figures are ours, computed from the sources listed at the foot of the page.
In 2024, Frontier cancelled 2.32% of its 208,624 tracked flights (95% CI ±0.065 pts), the highest rate of 15 carriers.
Reporting carriers only (DOT threshold); operating-carrier attribution.
In 2024, Southwest cancelled 0.83% of its 1,419,419 tracked flights (95% CI ±0.015 pts), the lowest rate of 15 carriers.
Reporting carriers only (DOT threshold); operating-carrier attribution.
Every figure here is validated against its source row before this page can publish. The rules behind that check are on our editorial guidelines page.
What this does not cover
- A refund returns your money. It is not compensation for the trip you lost.
- Accepting a voucher or a rebooking you actually fly closes the refund door. The rule protects your right to decline, not to take both.
- The rule applies to carriers covered by Part 260. Very small operators may fall outside it.
How courts have read it
We are building a case library from federal opinions on denied boarding, tarmac delays, refunds and deceptive-practice claims, sourced from CourtListener and attributed to the Free Law Project. It is not published yet, and rather than summarise holdings we have not verified line by line, this section stays empty until it is.
Row30 provides data journalism and education, not legal advice. We are not a law firm and do not represent passengers in legal proceedings. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney.
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline On-Time Performance; analysis by Row30.