New England Airports Impacted by DOT’s New Rules for Canceled, Delayed Flights

When you're traveling, all you want is a smooth and (ideally) stress-free experience.

Your goal is to arrive at your terminal without encountering traffic, go through TSA without being screamed at to take your shoes off faster, stop by Dunkin' for that much-needed energy boost, then reach your gate with plenty of time to spare.

And that's just the beginning.

From there, you're hoping that your flight isn't overbooked, your checked bag doesn't get lost, and the plane takes off in a timely manner.

But what if it doesn't?

Heaven forbid the flight is delayed, or even worse, canceled. That would be quite the conundrum, especially if you've got a connecting flight dependent on your first one departing on time.

Thankfully, the US Department of Transportation just announced new rules that will positively impact the customer experience for airline travelers in both New England and the nation as a whole.

According to USA Today, the DOT's new rules,

...will require airlines to automatically give cash refunds to passengers for canceled and significantly delayed flights. Airlines can no longer decide how long a delay must be before a refund is issued...the delays covered would be more than three hours for domestic flights and more than six hours for international flights.

But that's not all. As mentioned, a popular fear amongst travelers is that their checked bags will be lost. Thankfully, USA Today and the DOT shared a new silver lining should that happen: airlines will have to issue you a cash refund if the luggage isn't retrieved and returned to you within 12 hours. Now, does that ultimately bring your things back? No. But it certainly helps.

To see the full list of updates from the DOT, click here. Airlines will have six months to comply with the changes.