Cyberattack causes a flight delay? Airlines won’t owe you a hotel or meal
Brief
Beginning next month, if a flight is canceled or delayed because of a cyberattack, feds will give airlines clearance not to hand out meal vouchers or hotels.
The change is the result of a broader rule the Transportation Department published last week that establishes a new “cause of delay” category for tracking information, but that also reduces air carrier responsibilities to customers for 10 kinds of events. Among them: “cybersecurity attacks (provided that the air carrier is in compliance with applicable cybersecurity regulations).”
The 10 events, including those cyberattacks, are deemed “not controllable,” meaning that “carriers are no longer obligated under [customer service] plans to provide amenities or compensation when disruptions arise from these specific causes,” as Sophie Hayashi, counsel at Crowell & Moring in the transportation group, wrote in a client alert .