What airlines do and don’t have to do when they cancel your flight

The Southwest holiday travel nightmare continued as travelers were still stranded in cities across the country searching for ways to get where they were going.

HOUSTON — The Southwest Airlines holiday travel nightmare continued Tuesday night as travelers were still stranded in cities across the country searching for ways to get home.

In the last 24 hours, there have been more than 200 flight cancellations at Hobby Airport and travel experts expect more to come.

Stranded travelers continued to flock to the Southwest ticket counters. Others waited outside Southwest’s lost-and-found baggage claim with hopes of speaking to a representative about their missing luggage.

READ: Airlines’ responsibilities when it comes to lost, damaged, delayed baggage

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan released a video statement Tuesday night that didn’t offer hope that there was an immediate end to the travel crisis.

“Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people, and planes, and we’re making headway and we’re optimistic to be back on track before next week,” he said.

Read and watch his full statement here.

United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said every U.S. airline is back to normal except Southwest.

“We also clearly see a system issue there that is their responsibility as an airline to manage and that we’re going to be looking into to ensure that every federal standard is met. Because what we’re seeing right now, from the system and the flights themselves to the inability to reach anybody on a customer service phone line, is just completely unacceptable,” Buttigieg said.

Chris Jarrell and his family had to deboard a plane that was scheduled to fly to Cleveland. They were expecting to visit his sick father on Tuesday night.

“We got loaded onto the plane, and they came back and said, you know, ‘I’m sorry we don’t have a second pilot,’” Jarrell said. “Just frustrating … it seems like they could’ve been better prepared for this.”

Like many other passengers, the Jarrell family waited in line for hours to get either a refund or a voucher for another flight — which airlines are required to do by law. Other passengers tried to get Southwest to pay for other means of travel to get to their destinations.

READ: Here’s what experts say you should do when your flight gets canceled

Here are some common questions and answers about canceled flights, according to the USDOT.

If a flight is canceled, is the airline required to book a passenger on another airline’s flight?

No, they aren’t. The DOT said it doesn’t hurt to ask, but airlines aren’t required to do this.

If a flight is canceled, is the airline required to provide passengers with a hotel room, food vouchers, cab fares or other reimbursements not related to the flight?

No, they aren’t. The DOT said sometimes airlines will provide this, but they’re not required to provide non-flight-related reimbursements.

If a flight is canceled, is an airline required to reimburse expenses if passengers miss their cruise, honeymoon, wedding, concert or other activity?

No, they aren’t. Airlines don’t have to reimburse passengers for any trip costs affected by the canceled flight, such as prepaid hotel rooms or even lost wages.

It’s still unclear when Southwest will get back on track. Travel experts are recommending travelers who have flights booked between now and Jan. 2 have a backup plan.

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