Flight delays and cancellations: what you can ask for

What to do in the first hour

Before anything else, find out how late the flight really is. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) warns that it is sometimes hard for airlines to estimate the total length of a delay in its early stages, because of what it calls creeping delays, when the weather that was forecast to improve gets worse or a mechanical problem turns out to be more complicated than it first looked.

Then check the airline's own flight status: Copa, for example, posts updates on its website, at the boarding gates and on the airport screens. In the United States, for a flight scheduled to leave within 7 days, the airline must post a status change within 30 minutes of learning about it, at least on its website and its phone reservation line, and must update the flight information screens it controls at U.S. airports within the same 30 minutes.

Ask the airline what it is going to do for you. Each airline has its own policies, and some may not provide amenities to stranded passengers. In the United States, when the airline itself caused the cancellation or delay, the Department's dashboard shows what the large U.S. airlines have committed to, such as rebooking you on their own flights at no extra cost, a meal or a meal voucher when the wait reaches 3 hours and, for most of them, a hotel and the ride to and from it when the delay runs overnight, though none of them commits to cash compensation. The Department says airlines must keep the promises in their customer service plans and that it will hold them accountable, and it tells passengers to ask the airline staff whether they will pay for meals or a hotel room.

Keep every receipt. If EU rules cover your flight, Your Europe says to make yourself known to the airline, so you do not end up making your own arrangements, and that if the airline does not offer the assistance you are owed and you pay for it yourself, it should reimburse you, as long as the expenses were necessary, reasonable and appropriate.

Flights in the United States

The Department (DOT) states that you are entitled to a refund of the ticket price if the airline cancelled your flight, regardless of the reason, and you choose not to travel and do not accept the travel credits, vouchers or other forms of compensation the airline offers. You are also entitled to a refund if the airline significantly delays or significantly changes your flight and you make the same choice. This applies to non-refundable tickets too. If you paid for extras such as checked bags or seat selection and could not use them because the airline cancelled the flight, you are also entitled to a refund of those fees, and even if you paid them through a travel agency, you ask the airline for that refund.

The Department defines a significant change or delay in terms you can check on your own booking. It is an early departure of 3 hours or more for a domestic itinerary and 6 hours or more for an international one, a late arrival of 3 hours or more domestically and 6 hours or more internationally, a change in the origin or destination airport, more connections than the original itinerary, an involuntary downgrade to a lower class of service, a change in the connecting airports for a passenger with a disability, or a substitute aircraft on which an accessibility feature the passenger needs is not available.

One case is on hold for now: if the airline only gives your flight a new number, rebooks you on it, and the flight operates without a significant change or delay, the Department is not enforcing its refund and notification rules while it finishes a new rule on what counts as a cancelled flight.

There is one thing that changes the answer completely. If you choose to take the significantly delayed or changed flight, or the alternative flight the airline offers you, you are not entitled to a refund under the Department of Transportation's rules on refunds, so make that choice knowing what the offer is. Two exceptions are worth knowing: if you were moved to a lower class of service and still fly, the airline must refund the difference between the fare you paid and the lower fare, and if the airline caused the delay, its customer service plan may still cover some expenses or amenities.

The Department does not require airlines to rebook you, but they often offer to, and when they do, they must tell you that you are entitled to a refund if you do not accept the offer. If you bought the ticket directly from the airline and you reject the offer, or do not answer it and do not fly the offered flight, the refund is automatic: the airline must issue it without you having to make a request. Not answering has a downside, though: the airline will typically cancel your reservation, and it can set a deadline for accepting the new flight, so if your family still wants to travel, tell the airline you accept the new flight as soon as you can and before that deadline. Airlines are also required to notify you about cancellations and significant delays or changes, and about your right to a refund, including by email, text message or app notification if you signed up for them.

When you reject the offer, the refund is due within 7 business days if you paid by credit card and within 20 calendar days if you paid another way, such as cash or a check. If you did not answer and did not fly, the same deadlines count from the departure of the flight, and the refund goes back to your original form of payment. If the airline offers a travel credit or voucher instead of the refund, it must be valid for at least five years, and the airline must tell you about any important restrictions on it. If you have a problem getting a refund you believe you are owed, you can file a complaint with the Department.

If you bought the ticket through a travel agent or an online travel agency, that company may be the one that has to refund the airfare. The Department calls it the merchant of record, which is the company shown on your card or bank statement for the ticket, and it says to contact that agency directly to ask for the refund before you contact the airline.

If your flight is covered by EU rules

The European Union has its own rules for air passengers, published on Your Europe, the official portal of the European Union. They cover a flight inside the EU operated by an EU or a non-EU airline, a flight arriving in the EU from outside it operated by an EU airline, and a flight leaving the EU for a non-EU country operated by an EU or a non-EU airline. The same rules also apply to flights to and from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, and for these rules the EU includes French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, among other places. They do not apply if you have already received compensation, re-routing or assistance for the same journey under the law of a non-EU country. If you fly into the EU from another country on an airline that is not from the EU, Your Europe says you may have rights under the law of the country where that airline is licensed.

The portal lists the situations that count as a cancellation: the original flight schedule is abandoned and you are moved to another scheduled flight, the departure time is brought forward by more than 1 hour, the aircraft took off but had to return to the airport of departure and you were moved to another flight, or your flight arrives at an airport that is not the final destination on your ticket. That last case counts as a delay, not a cancellation, if you accepted re-routing to your original destination or to another destination you agreed to, or if the airport where you land serves the same town, city or region as your original destination. If the flight is cancelled you can choose between reimbursement, re-routing or return, and you are also entitled to assistance at the airport.

The airline offers that choice once: a reimbursement of your ticket, with a flight back to your first departure airport at the earliest opportunity if you have a connecting flight, re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing on a later date that suits you, if seats are available. Once you pick one you no longer have rights to the other two, but the airline may still have to pay compensation, whether you chose the reimbursement or a re-routing.

For a delay at departure, the portal says the right to meals and refreshments in proportion to the waiting time, and to two free telephone calls, emails or faxes, begins at a point that depends on the length of the delay and the distance of the flight: from a delay of two hours or more for flights of 1,500 km or less, three hours or more for flights inside the EU of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights between 1,500 and 3,000 km, and four hours or more for all other flights. If the new expected departure time is at least the day after the one you booked, you are entitled to hotel accommodation and transport to and from the airport and the hotel if you need to stay the night. If the delay at departure reaches 5 hours or more, the airline must reimburse your ticket and, if you have a connecting flight, offer you a return to your first departure airport at the earliest opportunity.

Compensation may apply in two situations. The first is a cancellation you were told about less than 14 days before the scheduled departure date: the airline has to prove if and when it told you personally, and if it cannot, the portal points you to your national authority. No compensation is due if you were told between 2 weeks and 7 days before and offered a re-route leaving no more than 2 hours before the original departure time and arriving less than 4 hours after the original arrival time, if you were told less than 7 days before and offered one leaving no more than 1 hour earlier and arriving less than 2 hours later, or if the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The second situation is arriving at your final destination 3 hours or more late, unless the airline proves the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances, for example with extracts from logbooks or incident reports.

If you miss a connection and reach your final destination more than 3 hours late, compensation may apply only if your flights were booked as a single reservation, and not if you missed it because of delays at security checks or because you did not keep the boarding time at the transfer airport. Complain first to the airline that operated the flight; if it does not answer within 2 months, or you are not satisfied with its reply, you can complain to the national authority of the country where the problem happened.

One last thing about the paperwork. A printed or electronic notice of these rights has to be displayed at the check-in desk, at the check-in kiosks and online, and if you were denied boarding, the flight was cancelled, the delay was more than 2 hours at departure or you arrived with a long delay, the airline must give you a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance. It is worth asking for that notice at the desk, so you have the rules in writing while you decide.

What the rules say in Mexico and Colombia

In Mexico, passenger rights are in the Civil Aviation Law (Ley de Aviación Civil), article 47 Bis, and PROFECO, the federal consumer protection agency, explains them. When a delay is the airline's fault and lasts more than one hour and less than four, the airline compensates you under its own compensation policy, which the law says must include at least discounts on a later flight to the same destination, food and drinks, or a combination of these. The law also says the airline must give waiting passengers access to phone calls and email.

When a delay that is the airline's fault passes four hours, or the airline cancels the flight for a reason it is responsible for, you choose: a refund of the ticket or of the part of the trip not made; a seat on the first available flight, with phone calls, email, food for the wait and, if you must stay the night, a hotel and ground transport to and from the airport; or a flight on a later date that suits you. If you choose the refund or the later date, the law says the airline must also pay you an indemnity, within 10 calendar days after you claim it. It adds that food and lodging must be given when the delay happens, and that any clause that tries to avoid paying these indemnities or compensations has no legal effect.

Each airline publishes its own compensation policy under that law. Copa's page on passengers' rights in Mexico, for example, says that when the delay is attributable to Copa and lasts more than one hour and less than four, it offers snacks and drinks at the boarding gate, calls and access to email, as far as the airport infrastructure allows, and that when the delay passes four hours or the flight is cancelled, it adds meals according to the waiting time.

In Colombia, passenger rights are in the Colombian Aeronautical Regulations (RAC 3) of the Aerocivil, the civil aviation authority, and the Superintendencia de Transporte takes complaints. The Superintendencia says that when the airline caused the delay, cancellation or interruption, you are entitled to a snack and a phone call when the delay is more than one hour and less than three, also to breakfast, lunch or dinner depending on the time when it is more than three and less than five, and also to an additional compensation when it is more than five. If that delay of more than five hours runs past 10:00 p.m. local time, the airline must also give you a hotel, if you are not in your place of residence, and the transfers between the airport and the hotel.

Bad weather changes this in Colombia. RAC 3 says that when the trip cannot start as agreed, or starts late, because of force majeure or weather that affects safety, the airline is released by refunding the ticket price, and you can ask for the full price back at once without a penalty. When a cancellation is not for those reasons, the airline refunds what you paid for the cancelled leg and also pays you an additional compensation. If it moves you to another flight instead, you are compensated according to how long you wait for it, and there is no additional compensation if that flight leaves less than six hours after the original departure time.

If you are stuck on the plane

A tarmac delay is when the airplane is on the ground, either waiting to take off or just after landing, and passengers do not get the chance to get off. The rule that protects you here is the United States tarmac delay rule, the one that sets how long an airline may keep you on the ground, and the Department says plainly that it applies only to tarmac delays that happen at U.S. airports. It covers only airlines that operate at least one airplane with 30 or more passenger seats to, from or within the United States.

In the United States, on a flight leaving a U.S. airport, the airline must begin moving the airplane to a place where passengers can safely get off before 3 hours on a domestic flight and before 4 hours on an international one. On a flight landing at a U.S. airport, it must give passengers the opportunity to safely get off before those same limits. The only exceptions are for safety, security or air traffic control reasons, and the Department warns passengers not to leave the plane unless the airline says it is safe to do so.

Food and water are part of the rule too. During a tarmac delay airlines must provide a snack, such as a granola bar, and drinking water no later than two hours after the start of the delay, and they must have or obtain enough food and drinking water to give a serving to every passenger on board, although a full meal is not required. The only exception is when the pilot decides that food and water cannot be handed out for safety or security reasons, for example while the plane is taxiing on an active runway. The airline also has to tell you the status of the delay when it passes 30 minutes, and while you wait you are entitled to working toilets, a comfortable cabin temperature and medical attention if you need it.

One warning from the Department: if you get off the aircraft during a tarmac delay, the airline is not required to let you back on, and the flight may leave without you. If that happens you may be the one who has to find another flight, and you should ask the airline about your checked bags, because they may not come off the plane before it leaves.

What you can do before you book

The Department has a short list of things that lower the odds of a bad day, and the first one is time of day. A departure early in the day is less likely to be delayed than a later flight, and if an early flight is delayed or cancelled you may have more rerouting options. Booking the last flight of the day is the opposite: if it is cancelled you could get stuck overnight.

The second is the route. Nonstop flights are in general the least likely to be delayed, and a connection always carries the risk of a misconnection, so the amount of time between flights is the number to look at. If you do not like the answer to the question of what happens if the first flight is delayed, pick another flight or ask for a connection with more time in it.

The third is the airport. Some airports are more congested than others, and flights during the busiest hours of the day are more likely to be delayed, so it is worth looking at all the airports that serve your destination and asking about the on-time performance of each flight you are considering.

And the last one is the airline's own plan. The larger airlines publish customer service plans that list what they will do for delayed passengers, and the Department keeps a dashboard of what the large U.S. airlines commit to when the airline itself causes the cancellation or delay, for example a crew or maintenance problem. The Department says you can use that dashboard to compare airlines when you decide which one to fly, so you can know what you would get during a long wait before you book, not at the gate.

Sources

• Official page of the U.S. Department of Transportation on refunds: a consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel or accept travel credits, vouchers or other forms of compensation offered by the airline, and also if the airline significantly delays or significantly changes a flight and the consumer makes the same choice. A significant change or delay is an early departure of 3 hours or more for domestic itineraries and 6 hours or more for international ones, a late arrival of 3 hours or more domestically and 6 hours or more internationally, a change in the origin or destination airport, more connections, an involuntary downgrade to a lower class of service, a change in the connecting airports for a passenger with a disability, or a substitute aircraft on which an accessibility feature the passenger needs is unavailable; a downgraded consumer who continues to travel is not entitled to a refund of the full airfare, but the airline must refund the difference between the original fare and the downgraded fare. A consumer who takes the significantly delayed or changed flight, or an alternative flight offered by the airline, is not entitled to a refund under DOT rules, but may be entitled to compensation for certain expenses or amenities if the delay was due to something in the airline's control, as set out in the airline's customer service plan or the airline customer service dashboard. A consumer is entitled to a refund of fees paid for ancillary services, such as baggage transport or advance seat selection, if the service was unavailable through no fault of the consumer, for example because the airline cancelled the flight, and even if a ticket agent is the merchant of record for such a fee, the consumer must request that refund from the airline. Although not required by DOT, airlines often offer to rebook consumers after a cancellation or significant delay or change; they must then say that the consumer is entitled to a refund if the offer is not accepted, and if the consumer rejects the offer, or does not respond to it and does not fly on the offered flight, the refund must be issued automatically without a request. In these situations airlines will typically cancel the reservation, and they are not required to keep the offer open indefinitely and can set a deadline to accept it, so a consumer who intends to travel should accept the rebooking as soon as possible or before that deadline. A refund is due within 7 business days after the consumer rejects an offer if the ticket was paid by credit card, and within 20 calendar days if it was paid another way, such as a check or cash; if the consumer does not respond to the offer and does not fly on the offered flight, the airline must provide the refund to the original form of payment within 7 business days for credit card payments or 20 calendar days for other payments after the significantly delayed or changed flight or the alternative flight departs. Travel credits, vouchers or other compensation offered instead of a refund must be valid for at least five years, and airlines must disclose any material restrictions, limitations or conditions. Airlines must notify consumers about cancellations, significant delays or changes and the right to a refund, by email, text message or mobile app push notice when the consumer subscribed to that method. Ticket agents that are the merchant of record, the entity shown in the financial charge statement for the ticket purchase, such as a debit or credit card statement, are responsible for refunds of airfare; a consumer who purchased tickets directly from an airline is entitled to an automatic refund, and a consumer who purchased through an online travel agency or other agent should contact that agent directly to obtain a refund before contacting the airline. — transportation.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official U.S. Department of Transportation page for the Federal Register notification of enforcement discretion 2026-13675, published 7 July 2026: under current regulations a flight given a different flight number than at the time of purchase is considered a cancelled flight, making the consumer eligible for a prompt refund and related notifications, and the Department is extending its discretion, announced on 5 December 2025, not to enforce these requirements for renumbered flights when the passenger is rebooked on the flight with the new number and it operates without any significant change or delay, to give it time to complete the pending rulemaking on the definition of a flight cancellation. — transportation.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official page of the U.S. Department of Transportation on the Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard: it shows the services U.S. airlines commit to providing to mitigate passenger inconveniences when the cause of a cancellation or delay was within the airline's control, which it describes as a delay or cancellation caused by the airline, such as maintenance or crew problems, cabin cleaning, baggage loading and fueling; it says the dashboard can also be used to compare the amenities airlines commit to provide when deciding which airline to fly; a green check mark means the airline has committed to the service and a red x means it has not, although airlines with a red x may still provide it in their discretion. In its tables, all the listed airlines commit to rebooking the passenger on the same airline at no additional cost and to a meal or meal cash or voucher when the cancellation or delay results in a wait of 3 hours or more, all but one commit to complimentary hotel accommodations and ground transportation to and from the hotel for an overnight cancellation or delay, and none commits to cash compensation. Airlines are required to adhere to the promises in their customer service plans, and the Department will hold them accountable if they fail to do so; these commitments do not affect the right to a refund, airlines must provide a prompt refund, including on non-refundable tickets, if the airline cancels or significantly changes the flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger does not accept the alternative offered, and a passenger who has a problem obtaining a refund may file a complaint with the DOT. Its questions and answers say that each airline has its own policies, that passengers should ask airline staff whether they will pay for meals or a hotel room or compensate them for their time, and that some airlines may not provide amenities to stranded passengers; that for flights scheduled to depart within 7 days airlines must provide status updates within 30 minutes of becoming aware of a status change, at a minimum on their website and telephone reservation system, and update the flight status displays they control at U.S. airports within 30 minutes; and that it is sometimes difficult for an airline to estimate how long a delay will be in its early stages, which it calls a creeping delay, as when weather that was supposed to improve gets worse or a mechanical problem turns out to be more complex than thought. — transportation.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official page of the U.S. Department of Transportation on tarmac delays: a tarmac delay occurs when an airplane on the ground is either awaiting takeoff or has just landed and passengers do not have the opportunity to get off the plane; the DOT's tarmac delay rule applies only to tarmac delays that occur at U.S. airports, and only to covered carriers, meaning airlines that operate at least one airplane with 30 or more passenger seats to, from or within the United States. For flights departing from a U.S. airport, airlines are required to begin to move the airplane to a location where passengers can safely get off before 3 hours for domestic flights and 4 hours for international flights, and for flights landing at U.S. airports, airlines are required to provide passengers with an opportunity to safely get off the airplane before 3 hours for domestic flights and 4 hours for international flights; exceptions are allowed only for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons, and passengers should not exit the airplane unless told by the airline that they can do so safely. If a passenger chooses to get off during a tarmac delay, the airline is not required to let them back on, the flight may take off without them and passengers may be responsible for finding another flight, and the airline may not be required to offload their checked bags before the plane takes off, so they will need to contact the airline about returning their checked luggage later. During a tarmac delay, airlines must provide a snack, such as a granola bar, and drinking water no later than two hours after the start of the delay, and must have or obtain enough food and drinking water to provide a serving to all passengers onboard; full meals are not required, and the only instance in which food and water need not be handed out is when the pilot determines it cannot be provided for safety or security reasons, for example while the airplane is taxiing on an active runway. Airlines must provide a notification regarding the status of the delay when the tarmac delay exceeds 30 minutes, and must provide working toilets, comfortable cabin temperatures and adequate medical attention if needed. — transportation.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official consumer guide of the U.S. Department of Transportation on coping with flight delays: a departure early in the day is less likely to be delayed than a later flight, and if an early flight is delayed or canceled you may have more rerouting options, while if you book the last flight of the day and it is canceled you could get stuck overnight. In general you are least likely to be delayed on nonstop flights, a connection always involves the possibility of a misconnection, and when booking a connection you should always check the amount of time between flights and, if you do not like the answer to what happens if the first flight is delayed, pick another flight or ask for a connection that allows more time. Certain airports are more congested than others and flights during peak travel times of the day are more susceptible to delay, and it advises examining flights to all airports that serve the destination city and asking about the on-time performance of each flight being considered. It also suggests checking the larger carriers' customer service plans, which list the amenities those airlines will provide, before booking. — transportation.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official page of Your Europe, the European Union portal, on air passenger rights: EU air passenger rights apply to a flight within the EU operated by an EU or a non-EU airline, to a flight arriving in the EU from outside the EU operated by an EU airline, and to a flight departing from the EU to a non-EU country operated by an EU or a non-EU airline, if the passenger has not already received benefits (compensation, re-routing, assistance from the airline) for this journey under the relevant law of a non-EU country; the EU includes Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands, and the rules also apply to flights to and from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. A notice of these rights must be clearly displayed at the check-in desk, at check-in kiosks and online, and if the passenger was denied boarding, the flight was cancelled, the delay was more than 2 hours at departure or the passenger arrives with a long delay, the airline must give a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance. A cancellation occurs when the original flight schedule is abandoned and the passenger is transferred to another scheduled flight, when the departure time is brought forward by more than 1 hour, when the aircraft took off but was forced to return to the airport of departure and the passenger was transferred to another flight, or when the flight arrives at an airport which is not the final destination on the ticket, unless the passenger accepted re-routing to the original final destination or to another destination they agreed to, or the arrival airport serves the same town, city or region, in which cases it is considered a delay. If the flight is cancelled the passenger has the right to choose between reimbursement, re-routing or return and to assistance at the airport; the airline must offer, on a one-off basis, a choice between reimbursement of the ticket (with a return flight to the airport of departure at the earliest opportunity for a connecting flight), re-routing to the final destination at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to seat availability, and once one is chosen the passenger no longer has rights to the other two, although the airline may still have to pay compensation whether reimbursement or re-routing was chosen. If the passenger was informed of the cancellation less than 14 days before the scheduled departure date, the passenger has a right to compensation, and the airline must prove if and when the passenger was personally informed, failing which the passenger can contact their national authority; no compensation is due if the passenger was informed more than 14 days in advance, if informed between 2 weeks and 7 days before and offered re-routing departing no more than 2 hours before the original departure time and arriving less than 4 hours after the original arrival time, if informed less than 7 days before and offered re-routing departing no more than 1 hour before and arriving less than 2 hours after the original times, or in case of extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. If the flight is delayed at departure, the passenger has the right to assistance, to reimbursement and a return flight, depending on the duration of the delay and the distance of the flight, and if the delay at departure is at least 5 hours the airline must reimburse the ticket and, for a connecting flight, offer a return to the airport of departure at the earliest opportunity. A passenger who arrives at the final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more is entitled to compensation unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances, which the airline has to prove, for example with extracts from logbooks or incident reports; examples of extraordinary circumstances are air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather conditions and security risks, and to be exempted from paying compensation the airline must prove a link between the extraordinary circumstances and the delay or cancellation and that it could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. For a delay at departure, the passenger is entitled to meals and refreshments in proportion to the waiting time and 2 free telephone calls, emails or faxes from a delay of two hours or more for flights of 1,500 km or less, three hours or more for intra-EU flights of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights between 1,500 and 3,000 km, and four hours or more for all other flights, and, where the new expected departure time is at least the day after the scheduled one, to hotel accommodation and transport to and from the airport and the accommodation if an overnight stay is needed. Airlines should offer and provide assistance free of charge while the passenger waits, and the passenger should make themselves known to the airline to avoid having to make their own arrangements; if assistance is not offered and the passenger paid for it, including refreshments, food, accommodation and transport where these were due, the airline should reimburse expenses that were necessary, reasonable and appropriate, and the passenger should keep all receipts; the right to assistance lasts as long as the passenger waits for re-routing or a return flight, and in exceptional cases the airline may limit or decline assistance if it would cause further delay. For a missed connecting flight, the passenger has a right to compensation when arriving more than 3 hours late if the flights were booked as part of a single reservation, EU rights apply and the delay was not caused by extraordinary circumstances, but not if the connection was missed because of delays at security checks or because the passenger did not respect the boarding time at the airport of transfer. Complaints go first to the airline, and only the airline which operates the flight can be held responsible; if there is no reply within 2 months, or the reply is not satisfactory, the passenger can complain to the relevant national authority in the country where the incident took place. — europa.eu (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official questions and answers of Your Europe, the European Union portal, on air passenger rights: for a flight from outside the EU, EU passenger rights apply if it is operated by a carrier licensed in an EU country, and if it is operated by a non-EU carrier the passenger may have rights under the relevant law of the country where the carrier is licensed; passengers won't receive compensation if the cancellation or delay was due to extraordinary circumstances, for example bad weather, but the carrier must still offer assistance (reimbursement or re-routing) and care (meals and/or accommodation) while they wait for alternative transport. — europa.eu (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official page of Copa Airlines on the provisions pursuant to passengers' rights in Mexico: the airline states that, if a flight is delayed or cancelled, it will do everything in its power to keep passengers informed while they are at the airport or on board, through the flight status section of its website, notices at boarding gates and aboard the plane, screens or information systems at airports and its Reservation Center. Under the heading of the procedure to receive compensations or indemnification when the delay is attributable to Copa Airlines, it states that when the delay is more than one hour and less than four hours it will offer snacks and beverages at the boarding gate, calls for affected passengers and access to emails, to the extent permitted by the airport infrastructure within Mexican territory where it operates, and that when the delay exceeds four hours or the flight is cancelled it will also offer meals and beverages according to the waiting time; the page also lists a compensation under article 47 Bis of the Civil Aviation Law for delays over four hours and for cancellations when the passenger chooses a refund or a later date, and states that no compensation voucher is issued if the passenger chooses to travel on the first available substitute flight. — copaair.com (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official text of Mexico's Civil Aviation Law (Ley de Aviación Civil), published by the Chamber of Deputies, last amended in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 14 November 2025: article 47 Bis, section V, says that when there is a delay and the cause is attributable to the airline, a delay of more than one hour and less than four is compensated under each airline's compensation policy, which must include at least discounts on flights at a later date to the contracted destination, food and drinks, or a combination of these, that airlines must register their compensation policies every six months with the Federal Civil Aviation Agency and PROFECO and that the policies are made public, that a delay of more than four hours is compensated and also gives access to the options and, where applicable, the indemnity set for a cancellation attributable to the airline, and that in all cases waiting passengers must have access to phone calls and email; section VI says that when a flight is cancelled for a reason attributable to the airline, the passenger chooses between a refund of the ticket or of the part of the trip not made, substitute transport on the first available flight with at least free access to phone calls and email, food according to the waiting time and, when an overnight stay is needed, a hotel at the airport or in the city and ground transport to and from the airport, or transport on a later date that suits the passenger, and that in the first and third cases the airline must also pay an indemnity; section X says that airlines must pay the indemnities set by the law within at most ten calendar days after the passenger claims them, except the compensation in food and lodging, which must be provided when the delay occurs, and that any clause that tries to exempt the airline from its responsibility or avoid paying the indemnities or compensations is void. — diputados.gob.mx (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official page of PROFECO, Mexico's Federal Consumer Protection Agency, on rights when flying, dated 16 April 2025: if a flight is delayed through the airline's fault, the passenger is entitled to compensation according to the length of the delay; for more than one hour and less than four, discounts on later flights to the same destination or food and drinks, under each airline's policies; and when the delay is more than four hours or the flight is cancelled, the passenger can choose a refund of the ticket or of the part of the trip not made plus an indemnity, transport on the first available flight with food and, where applicable, lodging and transport to and from the airport, or another flight on a later date to the same destination. — gob.mx (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official frequently asked questions of Colombia's Superintendencia de Transporte on air transport: the Superintendencia protects air passengers' rights, which are set out in the Colombian Aeronautical Regulations (RAC 3) and the Consumer Statute, and receives their complaints, while the Aerocivil keeps the regulation of the air sector; when the cause of a delay, cancellation or interruption was a situation of the airline's own, the passenger is entitled, for a delay of more than one hour and less than three, to a snack and a phone call, for more than three and less than five hours, also to food (breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on the time), and for more than five hours, also to an additional compensation, and if the delay runs past 10:00 PM local time, to lodging, if the passenger is not in their place of residence, and the transfer between the airport and the lodging. — supertransporte.gov.co (checked 21 October 2026)
• Official text of the Colombian Aeronautical Regulations, RAC 3 (amendment 18, July 2025), published by the Aerocivil: numeral 3.10.2.13.1 says that when the trip cannot start under the agreed conditions or its start is delayed because of force majeure or weather that affects its safety, the carrier is released from liability by refunding the ticket price, and the passenger may demand the immediate refund of the full price without any penalty; numeral 3.10.2.13.2 says that when the airline cancels a flight and the cancellation is not due to force majeure or weather affecting safety, besides refunding the price paid for the cancelled leg it pays the passenger an additional compensation, that a passenger transferred to another flight is compensated according to the waiting time until that flight leaves, and that there is no additional compensation if that flight leaves less than six hours after the scheduled departure of the original flight. — aerocivil.gov.co (checked 21 October 2026)