r/AirlineChaos

We got stranded at IAD today due to weather. I can totally understand it was due to weather. However, the gate agent finally told us the flight was cancelled after 6 hours of waiting for update. Then told us we can get our checked baggage at baggage claim, only to be told by United baggage service that it will be 6 hours to get them. Now it’s 2:14 am been standing in line for an hour to rebook. There are only 3 agents working a line of over 30 people. Two of the agents says I’m going to take a coffee/bathroom break and just turned off their computer and walks out with their coffee.

What a nightmare. I am / was on flight 16 from Seattle to JFK. We were supposed to land at around 10:30 pm, EST. At around that time we began to circle JFK and were informed that due to severe weather we would have to circle the airport until it was safe to land. Frustrating, but not the end of the world.

After about an hour and a half of circling we were informed that we were running out of fuel at would have to divert to Albany airport. Things are quickly getting more frustrating and it’s now past midnight.

A few minutes later (maybe longer, maybe less? Everything is blurring together - I haven’t slept in so many hours) we are informed the lavatory’s are broken. There is mechanical issue and they are full (of shit and piss). Now we have no bathrooms. We finally land at Albany airport. The bathrooms still don’t work. I’m about to pee my pants and I’m panicking. It’s maybe 2am at this point. They are trying to fix the bathrooms. Finally they say they are going to let us get off the plane. The plane moves to a terminal and we get hooked up to an exit ramp (I forget what you call them, I’m so tired). The pilot then informs us that if we exit the plane we cannot get back on because the airport has no staff to re-board us. People are fighting and tension is high. They are still trying to fix the bathrooms so we can take off and go to JFK.

Finally, at around 3:30 am they tell us they can’t fix the bathrooms and we will have to deplane. They let us know they can’t get our checked luggage and that they will “mail it to us”. People are becoming very angry.

The pilot informs us we will receive an email about next steps for what flight they will put us on. They tell us that, unfortunately, Albany airport has no Alaska help desk and that Alaska flights don’t typically come here - so they have no Alaska flights to put us on.

At around 4 (ish?) am we get off the plane. It is currently 5:35 am, haven’t slept at all, and we still haven’t not received an email about what to do and what flight we will be put on.

We have called customer service and they have essentially said we need to wait for the email and they have no answers yet.

The icing on top - we had turbulence the entire flight so we never got our in flight meal and only got one snack. We were not offered food or water for many hours and had no access to bathrooms.

Currently still stuck at Albany airport - no email - no idea what the plan is - have none of my luggage.

I feel like this deserves more than a refund?

Edit to add: I’m shocked people are so triggered by this post! And so quick to jump to defend a $5.69 billion dollar company. Makes me wonder if y’all think refunds and flight vouchers will be deducted from your personal paycheck? In no way, shape or form is it helpful to hear I need a perspective shift. This is a shitty situation and the customer service has been atrocious. It’s 10:12 am on Sunday July 5th and we still have not received any information or updates from Alaska on rescheduling / finding a new flight. After numerous calls to customer service we ended up booking a flight with Delta. Obviously things happen with the weather, mechanical issues, refueling, etc - my issue is with the follow up and customer service. Not the weather or the mechanical issue with the toilets.

On UA 918 to London for a Wimbledon work event, and this has been one of the worst travel experiences I’ve had.
I left Sacramento at 4am on July 4th, already knowing holiday travel is risky, but I didn’t have a choice. Had a tight 1.5-hour layover at IAD and expected a normal long-haul flight.
Instead, it turned into a domino effect of nonsense:
• 1.5-hour delay to start.
• During that delay, they let passengers deplane… then couldn’t get everyone back on time, adding another ~30 minutes.
• Then a weather reroute before we even left.
• Once we finally took off, the pilot announces they chose not to restock spoiled food—so no hot meals in first class.
• Mid-flight, a crew member gets sick, and now we’re turning back to DC.
So after all that:
• Missed July 4th with family and friends.
• Missed my Wimbledon work event.
• Probably missing the F1 race at Silverstone.
• What started as a 4am departure is now turning into a ~36-hour travel nightmare.
I paid around $3k cash + 30 points plus upgrade for a first-class ticket (first class tickets were $8k), and this is the experience.
At what point does this go beyond “travel delays happen” and into “this deserves serious compensation”?
For those who’ve dealt with United—what would you push for here?

I originally booked my flight from San Antonio to Des Moines so that I can attend my medical school graduation along with all the celebratory events scheduled and award ceremony that were planned on Thursday afternoon (I was a recipient of one of the awards). I planned on arriving to Des Moines Wednesday (5/25) afternoon. Original flight was to leave at 6:30am to Minneapolis (DL2717) with a layover in Minneapolis before taking off again at 12:55pm to Des Moines (DL5490), with an arrival time of early afternoon, unfortunately, I was notified that the flight changed at 10:50pm on 05.24.26 (I was asleep by then)  that  DL2717 would leave at 8:15 am, meanwhile DL5490 (connecting flight) would leave at 11:10am, giving me an impossible time to make the layover of 8 minutes (as Deltas policy also states that gates close 15 minutes before departure). I called 5/25 early in the morning to find another solution and the best solution that was brought up was a flight that left for Atlanta at 10:00am (DL1073) followed by a flight to Laguardia at 2:30 pm (DL0524) followed by the flight to Des Moines at 5:30pm (DL4904). Unfortunately, DL0524 didn’t leave until 3:15 pm due to “deep cleaning” and arrived at LaGuardia around 5:40-5:45pm. Despite DL4904 leaving late at 5:59pm, I was unable to make that connecting flight, leaving me stranded in an airport without any flights from Delta. My mother frantically called Delta support (I have to say, the member service representative was extremely polite, courteous, and compassionate.  She then advised my mother (who was crying and anxious) that the best option was to book a flight with another carrier (as Delta was unable to accommodate) …therefore, I booked with American Airlines.   American Airlines charged me $410 to fix the mistake that Delta caused.  Keep in mind that my communication with my mother was while I was 35000 feet in the sky enroute LGA, while my parents were already in Des Moines after flying SWA.  I am sure the rep thoroughly notated my account, as she escalated to a supervisor…again showing empathy toward the situation.  This was an awful disheartening experience for my immediate and extended family, as they had to continue a celebration without the person that had accomplished the medical degree. 
I still had faith in Delta, hoping that Wednesday’s issue was isolated, I then received a message from Delta regarding my return flight at an early enough time to react stating that my Atlanta flight that left 5/30 at 11:55am  (DL1704) was cancelled and I would be rebooked to fly to Minneapolis at 4:21pm (DL4913) to make my connecting flight to San Antonio at 6:26pm (DL2773) giving me a layover time of approximately 49 minutes. However, to avoid another disaster, my parents booked a flight with Southwest Airlines that they were taking back home for $471. I am beyond glad that they did that because when I looked at the flight status of DL4913, the flight was late by 30 minutes and landed at 6:07, giving me an impossible time to make my connecting flight with DL 2773 at 6:26pm. Again, I would have been stranded until the following day, 05.31.26.
I really want to stay loyal with Delta because compared to the other options, they have by far been the most comfortable airline I have flown. However, this is beyond unacceptable. First on 5/27, I was placed in a worse position by landing in New York city where flights were much more expensive. Secondly, I was again going to be stranded by Delta in Minneapolis 5/30. 
I have filed a couple of complaints to Delta requesting to be compensated for this undue stress to me and my elderly parents. Delta has refused to reimburse anything greater than $230 (for the return flight cancellation from DSM to SAT) rather than the entire flight that costed $460 despite Delta putting me across the country without a solution other than PURCHASING A TICKET FROM A DIFFERENT AIRLINE.  I also want what is rightfully and fairly owed to me by compensating for the two airline tickets ($880 in total) that I had to purchased last minute along with getting fully compensated on my refund request for the Delta tickets as the contract was not fulfilled and I had to fix their mistakes for them.
I called Delta customer service and they recommended me to chat online with the representative. After chatting with the rep online, the best resolution they came up with was a measly $30 travel credit, which was boosted up to a whopping $100 travel credit despite spending $880 to fix their mistake.
I understand there were some weather issues, but then I was told that there were some staffing issues…this is something that Delta need to be accountable for…I as a “valued” member shouldn’t suffer Delta’s inadequacies.
I started my residency in Philadelphia PA on 06.15.26, as you can imagine, I have NO INCOME until around 06.30.2026.  I have moving expenses that I have to incur as I will be leaving San Antonio, Texas to PA.  Starting physicians during their residency DO NOT make much income, therefore I need to be responsible for what little resources I have and should not have to be subsidizing Deltas mistakes. 
I would have greatly appreciated if Delta made this right and corrected their mistakes.  I am fully aware that mistakes happen, but when they do, we must be held accountable….at least that’s the way I face and manage my mistakes.

Had anyone seen any reporting on a June 14 delta flight LAX - MCO that turned around and returned to LAX 20 mins after take off? I was on that flight. Pilot announced he smelled fuel in the cabin and was turning around. Everyone on-board was stone quiet the entire way bsck. We did land at LAX. Greeted by waiting firetrucks! They didnt let us off the plane. Firemen came on the plane while we were all seated- like wtf open the emergency doors already so we can leave. They turned the power off to the entire plan, no air flow, no lights, likely so it wouldn't ignite and explode on the tarmac with everyone inside. Once in the terminal Delta agents refused to acknowledge the seriousness of what just happened. They kept calling it a delay. And not what it really was which was a near disaster. Couple weeks later and it still keeps me up at night.

Any ever experience this before? Flying my whole life this was a first.

Ryanair changed the reason for my delay to avoid paying compensation, need advice

Flight FR6558, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2 July 2026. Delayed from 13:40 all the way to around 21:30, landed nearly 8 hours late at 00:27.

At 12:15 on the day, I got an official in-app notification stating: "your flight FR6558 is delayed because the aircraft operating your flight got stuck out of base last night due to the crew reaching their maximum daily flying hours." I have a timestamped screenshot of this.

Ryanair airport staff also told me a substitute aircraft was coming in from Ireland to operate the flight, and once onboard, the pilot personally apologised and said he didn't know what had happened with the previous flight. Independent flight tracking shows the substitute aircraft (EI-EMN) made a short, unusual round trip through Shannon, Ireland shortly before operating my flight, consistent with it being scrambled in as a last-minute replacement rather than simply running late.

At the airport, check-in staff also handed me a printed notice confirming my rights, and verbally told me I'd be entitled to a refund of the flight, compensation, and to have my expenses covered.

After landing, I submitted my EU261 claim. It was rejected, stating the delay was caused by "adverse weather conditions suffered by the operating aircraft on previous sectors" - a completely different reason to what I was told at the time, and weather was never mentioned once on the day.

I've submitted two claims with the screenshots and the contradiction laid out clearly, and both times got the exact same copy-paste template response, completely ignoring the evidence.

Going to ADR next, but has anyone dealt with this exact "they switched the reason after the fact" situation successfully?

How long did it realistically take, and is there anything specific I should include or do differently to strengthen the case?

From my research it looks like this is not the first time this has happened and previous customers have been able to get compensation.

I posted here about my poor experience with Avianca the other day and got so much abuse (“you have main character energy”, “feel better now princess?”) from Avianca employees / fans / people who want to defend them, that I took the post down. But I want to repost my experience as advice for anyone else who is not familiar with the airline and is considering them for an international flight. (I’m sure they’re just fine for domestic flights, for which I have lower standards.)

They are now considered a low cost carrier apparently. I did not know that because I had always only been aware of them as Colombia’s national carrier, and my ticket was not cheap. Be aware of that. It means no entertainment system even for long flights, a ham and cheese sandwich as your meal on multiple leg journeys and only water / coffee / orange juice unless you want to pay extra for other junk food, and uncomfortable and small seats that don’t recline.

They are knowingly overcharging people for checked bags by having a “glitch” on their website that makes it impossible to add the checked bag at the pre-check in price. The workers are fully aware of this “glitch.” Be aware that the price will be significantly higher once check in opens, and at the gate. Make sure to take screenshots and screen recordings of the “glitch” happening because that’s the only way they might give you the pre check in price, and if not you can use the screenshots as evidence when you contest the overcharge with your credit card.

They might confiscate any liquid or cream items you buy at the bogota airport, after you’ve gone past security. This happened to me, and according to what I’ve seen on the internet, to many other people.

For everyone out there who loves Avianca, enjoy your flights. For anyone else who is considering flying them versus another airline that might be slightly more expensive, or even cheaper .. I suggest you consider these points before booking.

Had anyone seen any reporting on a June 14 delta flight LAX - MCO that turned around and returned to LAX 20 mins after take off? I was on that flight. Pilot announced he smelled fuel in the cabin and was turning around. Everyone on-board was stone quiet the entire way bsck. We did land at LAX. Greeted by waiting firetrucks! They didnt let us off the plane. Firemen came on the plane while we were all seated- like wtf open the emergency doors already so we can leave. They turned the power off to the entire plan, no air flow, no lights, likely so it wouldn't ignite and explode on the tarmac with everyone inside. Once in the terminal Delta agents refused to acknowledge the seriousness of what just happened. They kept calling it a delay. And not what it really was which was a near disaster. Couple weeks later and it still keeps me up at night.

Any ever experience this before? Flying my whole life this was a first.

Hello, last week my flight was cancelled at the airport from London to Paris. I was given the option to take a flight late the following day, which I did not take as it arrived very late and via another city- I thought there was a risk of getting stranded enroute. I confirmed with the counter staff that if I booked a Eurostar to get home earlier, they would reimburse me. They also put me up at an airport hotel for the night.

I submitted all the receipts for my travel (Eurostar and taxis to and from the train stations) and they rejected the claim, stating “The losses that you refer to are not considered to be foreseeable and are therefore too remote to be recoverable from us according to law. You can contact your travel insurer should you wish to claim their reimbursement.”

How do I follow up to ensure I am reimbursed for the expenses I incurred trying to get home asap? They said I am only entitled to €250 compensation and a refund for the unused part of my flight. The Eurostar ticket alone was nearly £300 so this doesn’t cover it.
Thanks for your advice!

Hey guys.
My flight to Antalya from Germany in late July was apparently just cancelled because of the NATO summit- which is weird for me. The summit is on 7.-8. of July, so almost a month before I’ll even travel.

I got a mail and a sms, and at first I thought it was a phishing mail. But they had by booking number, full name. The email said immediate action was necessary, but when I clicked on the link it didn’t open. When I check the app, everything seems fine and the flight doesn’t seem to be canceled whatsoever. I really got no idea what’s going on, and I can’t check the airline cuz I lost my pnr number.

Thank you for reading this. I’m currently panicking

She took off to make history... and was never seen again.

On This Day, July 2, 1937, legendary aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world.

She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were flying toward Howland Island when radio contact was suddenly lost.

Despite one of the largest search operations in history, no trace of the aircraft or its crew was ever found.

More than 85 years later, Amelia Earhart's disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in aviation history. Was it a crash at sea, a navigational error, or something else entirely?

My daughter was traveling as unaccompanied minor to a summer camp this morning. We bought an extra seat for her cello over the phone with an agent, everything was smooth until the second leg of her flight.

Before boarding, the flight attendant took away her cello, saying they need to check it in as a luggage even though they're well aware that we had bought an extra ticket for it. Reason being "it won't buckle into the seat" without even trying to fit it.

The cello was being taken away for about 10 minutes, before they finally returned it to her, and allowed it in the plane, like how it should be, and it fitted perfectly fine.

I'm very upset about how they handled the situation, they're taking advantage of younger kids who doesn't know how to fight for their rights in these sticky situation. And I'm also concerned about what happened to the cello during those 10 minutes, did it get tossed around or crushed by other luggage? We wouldn't know until she lands.

Will Delta be responsible if anything happened to the cello during that 10 minute of disappearance?

[supprimé]

Delta Airlines has lost its way.

I was a loyal customer for over 20 years. However, my recent flight to and from Europe was an disaster.

1. DELTA outsourced europe travel to "partners". When we bought our last international flight Delta placed us on Air France for the Atlanta to Paris and Paris to Toulouse segments. The problem is Delta appears to be using Air France as a way to reduce costs and increase profits at their customers expense. For example, my wife and I paid for upgraded tickets so we could select seats together and paid for the additional checked bag six months in advance of our travel date. The cost for this so called upgrade was about $250 per ticket. However, within 30 days, both Delta and Airfrance began changing flight times to the point where we could not possible make our connecting flight. In addition, Air France began changing our seat assignments on all flights with no notification prior to the flights. We would show at the Air France gate not knowing if we would be put on a flight or even sit together.
2. In one case, we were denied boarding even though we had boarding passes and tickets in hand and were on time at the Air France gate. We were told at the gate that we were denied boading because we had a low priced ticket and put on a later flight from Paris to Toulouse even though a very large number of passengers were allowed to board. Air France apparently does not honor a first come first serve basis. Rather, they reschedule seating and boarding based on the highest priced tickets and profit. What a surprise it was to be treated like third class citizens by Air France.

Did Delta do anything to help? No. Delta told me to contact Air France and work directly with them to resolve the boarding denied issue even though my French is very limited. Keep in mind the tickets were bundled and sold by Delta who promptly washed their hands of the Air France service issues and lack of response by Air France. On the return flight from Paris to Atlanta our seat selection was suddenly canceled by Air France. We were told by the Air France check in agents they could do nothing to help and we had to ask for assistance at the gate. at the Air France gate, we were arbitrarily assigned new seats at the very back of the plane which is quite noisey and reaked of bathroom smells.

3. The icing on the Delta cake was when the Delta App failed in the Atlanta airport. The app showed the departure gate and time which we monitored every few minutes only to discover at boarding time by consulting with a Delta employee that the gate had changed. The Fly Delta app never did catch up to the 3 gate changes made by Delta in Atlanta. We had to stop using the Delta App and instead stared at the scheduling boads at the gate to gain accurate information. Thank goodness we always travel with paper tickets just in case of computer failures.

Delta has obtained my vote of no confidence. We will never fly Delta or Air France if humanly possible.

For everyone else considering flying Delta - Caveat Emptor.

For days and days, get a 406 error when trying to get to the site.

It appears that for users in a number of countries, the AlaskaAirlines site is no longer accessible.

Not fun!

Hello,

So my husband and I are currently awaiting compensation from WizzAir, as per EU Regulation EC261.

The details are:
We travelled from London to Medina on the 17/03/26 and were due to return on the 22/03/26.

They emailed us on the 19/03/26 that our outgoing flight has been cancelled due to “recent escalation in the situation in Iran, all flights have been suspended to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Saudia”.

The options they gave us were:

1. Rebook a flight on a similar or comparable route with WizzAir subject to seat availability (they mentioned flights may be operational by 24/06/26).
2. Receive Wizz credit
3. Receive a refund to your original payment method

We couldn’t under any circumstances go for 1 as both of us had limited number of leaves issued from our workplace and had to be back at work. We opted for option 3 as the customer rep clarified that any additional expenses would be reimbursed.

So we sadly cut our trip short - had to get a taxi to a different city, then catch a domestic flight to a second city in order to catch an international flight to London via Istanbul. We had to take this route as last minute ticket prices were insanely high (this time was overlapping with Eid just to clarify) and this was the only reasonable route in terms of the cost and timing of us landing.

We received the refund for our original return ticket after more than 1.5 months. We submitted the claim for all the additional expenses i.e. the domestic flight, the train tickets from London to our place of accommodation, etc the day we got back.

After chasing up our claims submission, WizzAir responded and asked us to upload evidence which we had already uploaded on the website. The other thing they asked for was digital boarding passes with QR code or a scannable barcode which we don’t have - just because the airlines we took simply did not have either of these things on the boarding pass. We have however uploaded the digital receipt and confirmation of our flights to them as evidence.

They have failed to respond, we have called them twice to chase up on our claim and each time they have said they will escalate it further. My understanding is that according to EU261, we are both owed €600 in compensation as the rerouting offered to our final destination was more than two hours after the original scheduled time of our arrival.

My question is; is this reasonable enough to take it up with small claims court and proceed further?

Fuck American Airlines…. They treat their customers like they are self moving body bags, giving not a single shit for any of their customers.
Fuck ATMOS - ATMOS = worthless piece of trash, if one of your “partner” airlines (American/Hawaii/Alaska) can’t help with a leg of the trip that’s not a partner-that’s a competitor airline.

Fix your shit - you craptastic piece of cow pie of an “airline”