This is general information about federal aviation consumer law, not advice about your specific circumstances. Regulations change; for guidance on your own situation, consult a licensed attorney.
Most people write to an airline asking for the wrong thing. There is no general US rule that pays you cash for a delay — but there is a federal refund rule with hard hour thresholds and a payment deadline measured in business days, and there are three other regimes that pay real money in narrower situations. Name the one you're in before you write a word.
Does the airline owe me money for a delayed flight?
Not as cash compensation. US law has no general delay-compensation requirement, and DOT withdrew the only rulemaking that would have created one on November 17, 2025, concluding that section 512 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 authorizes it only to require airlines to "establish policies" on reimbursement, not to mandate compensation (Airline Passenger Rights; Withdrawal).
What you are owed is a refund. A covered carrier must provide "a full and prompt refund of the airfare, including any taxes and ancillary fees" when a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed or changed and you are not offered, or you reject, alternative transportation or alternative compensation (14 CFR § 260.6). That obligation took effect with a compliance date of October 28, 2024 (89 FR 32760).
Which situation are you actually in?
Four regimes, four different letters: a cancelled or significantly delayed flight (a refund of the fare), an oversold flight you were involuntarily bumped from (cash denied boarding compensation), a tarmac delay (deplaning, food and water — no money), and a voucher you never agreed to (your money back in the original form of payment). Pick yours first, because each one has its own trigger, its own money, and its own letter:
- Cancelled or significantly delayed flight → a refund of the fare under 14 CFR § 260.6. Start at /letters/airline/flight-cancellation-refund.
- Bumped from an oversold flight → denied boarding compensation, up to $2,150, under 14 CFR § 250.5. This applies to involuntary denied boarding only, never to a delay: /letters/airline/bumped-compensation.
- Stuck on the tarmac → a deplaning, food and water obligation under 14 CFR § 259.4, which pays nothing by itself; the money claim still rests on the refund rule: /letters/airline/tarmac-delay-refund.
- Handed a voucher you never agreed to → your money back in the original form of payment: /letters/airline/voucher-to-cash.
All four sit together in the airline letters category.
How long does the delay have to be?
Three or more hours domestic, six or more international. A flight is a "significantly delayed or changed flight" when you depart 3+ hours earlier or arrive 3+ hours later than scheduled on a domestic flight, or 6+ hours earlier or later on an international flight (14 CFR § 260.2). The same thresholds appear in statute, measured against your original scheduled arrival time (49 U.S.C. § 42305) — so a rebooking that resets the "scheduled" time does not reset your clock.
Several changes qualify with no hour threshold at all: a changed origin or destination airport, added connection points, a downgrade in class of service, or — for a passenger with a disability — substitution of an aircraft lacking a needed accessibility feature (§ 260.2).
One thing the rule does not cover: DOT stated in the same rulemaking that there is no requirement to refund a non-refundable ticket "when the airline operated the flight and the passenger does not travel, regardless of the reason" (89 FR 32760).
Do I have to ask for it — and can they hand me a voucher instead?
You do not have to ask. A refund is deemed requested when the flight is cancelled with no alternative offered, when you reject the changed flight or the offered compensation, or when you do not respond by the scheduled departure date (49 U.S.C. § 42305(f)).
And a voucher only counts if you affirmatively agree to it — a carrier may not treat you as having accepted travel credit in place of a refund otherwise (14 CFR § 260.7). If you did agree, the credit must stay valid and redeemable for at least 5 years from issuance (Aug. 12, 2024 final rule). Otherwise the money goes back in your original form of payment, and the carrier "may not retain a processing fee for issuing refunds that are due" (14 CFR § 260.10). A contract-of-carriage clause cannot undo any of this: a carrier "must not include terms or conditions in its contract of carriage inconsistent with" these obligations (14 CFR § 260.11).
How fast do they have to pay?
7 business days on a credit card, 20 calendar days on cash, check or debit — counted from the earliest date the refund was requested (14 CFR § 260.2, definition of prompt refund). That single sentence is the most useful thing you can put in a letter, because it converts "still processing" into a dated, citable breach.
What about the meal, the hotel, and the tarmac?
Those come from the airline's own commitments, not from a compensation statute. DOT describes them that way: "the largest U.S. airlines that sell tickets have generally committed to provide free rebooking, complimentary hotel accommodations, and meals or meal vouchers," and airlines "are also obligated to abide by their customer service commitments" (90 FR 57138). So quote the airline's published plan back at it, not a regulation. A carrier's customer service plan must address 14 subjects including "prompt refunds in the original form of payment" and the services it provides to mitigate cancellation and misconnection inconvenience (14 CFR § 259.5).
Two caveats worth knowing before you cite a commitment. DOT has aligned the "controllable" standard for its dashboard with the Air Carrier causal category airlines report to BTS, and as of December 10, 2025 announced it will not treat cancellations or lengthy delays from unscheduled maintenance responding to a non-deferrable airworthiness directive as within airline control for these purposes (90 FR 57138). In a December 2024 snapshot, DOT recorded that "all ten of the largest U.S. airlines guarantee meals and rebooking without charge on the ticketed airline" and nine of ten guaranteed hotel and ground transport for controllable overnight disruptions (89 FR 99760) — that is a dated record of what plans said then, not a statement about today's. Read your carrier's current plan.
The tarmac rule is a separate, non-monetary obligation: a chance to deplane before 3 hours (domestic) or 4 hours (international), food and potable water "no later than two hours after the start of the tarmac delay," operable lavatories and medical attention (14 CFR § 259.4). Related: the carrier must update flight status within 30 minutes of learning of a cancellation, diversion, or delay of 30 minutes or more (14 CFR § 259.8) — a useful fact when an airline claims it told you sooner than it did.
What if you were bumped rather than delayed?
Different regime, real cash, paid on the spot. On a domestic flight, involuntary denied boarding from an oversale pays 200% of your one-way fare up to $1,075 if you arrive 1–2 hours late, and 400% up to $2,150 beyond 2 hours; on an international flight departing a US airport the windows are 1–4 hours and more than 4 hours (14 CFR § 250.5). Those caps rose from $775/$1,550 for transportation on or after January 22, 2025 (Oct. 24, 2024 final rule). Read the dollar figure off the regulation, not off a blog: that rule is titled Periodic Revisions to Denied Boarding Compensation and Domestic Baggage Liability Limits — DOT revises these limits on a recurring cycle, so confirm the current cap in the text of § 250.5 before you put a number in a letter. Your fare-based figure usually matters more than the cap anyway, since the cap only binds when 200% or 400% of your one-way fare exceeds it.
Payment is due "on the day and place the denied boarding occurs," or within 24 hours if you depart first (14 CFR § 250.8), and the written notice the airline hands you must state that you "may decline the payment and seek to recover damages in a court of law or in some other manner" (14 CFR § 250.9(b)). Nothing is owed if you missed check-in requirements, a smaller aircraft was substituted for operational or safety reasons, you were reseated at no extra charge, or you arrive within 1 hour of the original planned arrival (14 CFR § 250.6).
Delayed bags are a fourth track: on domestic flights with large aircraft a carrier may not limit liability for provable damages from loss, damage, or delay in delivery below $4,700 per passenger (14 CFR § 254.4), and a checked-bag fee must be refunded automatically when the bag is significantly delayed and you file a Mishandled Baggage Report (14 CFR § 260.5).
Is a US cash-compensation law coming?
There is a bill, not a rule. S. 3347 (119th Congress), the Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation Act, was introduced December 4, 2025 with 17 co-sponsors and would direct an interim final rule requiring "$750 in cash compensation to any passenger impacted by such cancellation or delay if such cancellation or delay is directly attributable to such air carrier," plus rebooking, a meal credit, and hotel and ground transport for overnight delays (S. 3347, introduced print). An introduced bill is not law, and none of it is enforceable today.
For context on why: DOT recorded in its December 2024 notice that "no U.S. airline currently guarantees cash compensation, and only three airlines guarantee compensation in credits or frequent flyer miles for airline-caused delays and cancellations," and described the EU regime only qualitatively — compensation unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances (89 FR 99760). If your flight touched Europe or the UK, that is a separate legal regime with its own scope and its own amounts; this post cites US sources only, so check the relevant regulator directly rather than trusting a figure from a blog.
Write the letter, with the deadline in it
A written complaint starts a clock of its own: a carrier must acknowledge it in writing within 30 days and send a substantive written response within 60 days of receipt, and must publish the mailing address and email or web address of the department that handles complaints (14 CFR § 259.7). Behind all of it sits the Secretary of Transportation's authority to investigate an "unfair or deceptive practice or an unfair method of competition in air transportation" and order a carrier to stop (49 U.S.C. § 41712) — the statute these consumer rules are enforced under.
So: name the regime, cite the section, give the exact hour count against your original scheduled time, state the 7-business-day or 20-calendar-day deadline, and say in one line that you have not agreed to a voucher. Send it certified.
Every template is free in our letter library — pick the one matching the regime you named above, fill in the flight number, the original scheduled arrival time, and the date the refund was deemed requested under § 42305(f). If your problem turns out not to be a flight at all, the rest of our free tools cover wills, SSDI appeals and letter drafting.
Flight delay compensation FAQ
Does the airline owe me cash compensation for a delayed flight? No — US law has no general delay-compensation rule, and DOT withdrew the only rulemaking that would have created one on November 17, 2025. What federal law gives you is a full refund of the airfare, taxes and ancillary fees if the delay is significant and you decline the replacement flight (14 CFR § 260.6).
How long does a flight delay have to be to trigger a refund? 3+ hours domestic, 6+ hours international, measured against your original scheduled departure or arrival time (14 CFR § 260.2). A changed origin or destination airport, an added connection, or a class downgrade also counts, with no hour threshold.
Do I have to request the refund? No. A refund is deemed requested when the flight is cancelled with no alternative offered, when you reject the changed flight or the offered compensation, or when you don't respond by the scheduled departure date (49 U.S.C. § 42305(f)).
Can the airline give me a voucher instead of my money back? Only if you affirmatively agree to it (14 CFR § 260.7). If you didn't, the refund goes back to your original form of payment with no processing fee deducted (14 CFR § 260.10).
How fast does an airline have to pay a refund? 7 business days for a credit card purchase, 20 calendar days for cash, check or debit, counted from the earliest date the refund was requested (14 CFR § 260.2).
What is the airline's deadline to answer my complaint letter? A carrier must acknowledge a written complaint in writing within 30 days and send a substantive written response within 60 days of receiving it (14 CFR § 259.7).