You can get a full cash refund for a flight canceled in the November 13 FAA outage

If the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop on Friday, November 13, led your airline to cancel your flight, federal rules say you can have your money back in cash. The Department of Transportation's refund rule requires airlines to refund the fare, taxes and fees for a canceled flight when the passenger turns down a rebooking or a travel credit. Nothing in the rule depends on what caused the cancellation.

What the ground stop doesn't bring is the meal vouchers and hotel rooms airlines promise when they cause a disruption themselves. DOT's dashboard of those promises covers cancellations and delays "caused by the airline." Friday's departures were halted by an FAA order.

The stop ran from 12:53 to 5:16 p.m. Pacific time and followed what the FAA described as "a temporary telecommunications outage." Our news report has the full timeline and what is known about the cause. This article covers the refund rule, the waivers United, Delta and Alaska posted, the rules for passengers held on a plane and what to do if an airline won't pay.

Flights canceled in the FAA ground stop qualify for a cash refund under the DOT refund rule:

The rule is 14 CFR 260.6. It requires an airline that sold you a ticket to provide "a full and prompt refund of the airfare, including any taxes and ancillary fees," for a canceled flight or a significantly delayed or changed one. The refund is due when you choose not to fly the changed flight, not to accept rebooking and not to accept a voucher or credit. It applies to nonrefundable tickets.

The rule's definition of a canceled flight is a flight that was published in the airline's reservation system when you bought the ticket "but not operated by the carrier." The definition says nothing about why the flight didn't operate. DOT makes the same point on its dashboard page. If an airline cancels or significantly changes a flight, "regardless of the reason," it must give a prompt refund to a passenger who doesn't accept the alternative offered, the department says.

FAA ground stop entitlements for canceled and delayed flights:

Airlines must pay the refund automatically once you turn down the alternatives:

The rule lists three situations in which the refund becomes due without a separate request:

1. The airline cancels your flight and offers you no alternative flight and no credit.
2. You reject the changed flight, the rebooking or the credit the airline offers.
3. You don't respond. If the airline offers a new flight and it leaves without you, or offers a credit and you haven't accepted it by the original departure date, the refund is due.

Three more parts of the rule protect you while you decide. An airline can't treat you as having accepted a credit unless you "affirmatively" agree to it, under section 260.7. A credit offered in place of a refund must stay valid for at least five years. Airlines must also use their notification systems to tell passengers who are owed a refund that they have that right.

Refunds are due within seven business days for credit card purchases:

The rule defines a "prompt" refund as one made within seven business days of the date it became due, for a credit card purchase. For cash, checks, debit cards and other payment methods, the deadline is 20 calendar days.

The money goes back the way you paid, unless you agree to a cash equivalent such as a check or a widely accepted gift card. Airlines can't keep a processing fee. If you paid for a seat assignment, a checked bag or Wi-Fi on the canceled flight, those fees are refunded automatically too, under section 260.4.

A domestic flight moved by three hours or more counts as significantly changed:

You don't need an outright cancellation. The rule treats a flight as "significantly delayed or changed" in any of these cases:

• It departs three or more hours earlier, or arrives three or more hours later, than scheduled on a domestic itinerary. For international itineraries the threshold is six hours.
• It leaves from a different airport or lands at a different one.
• It adds connections to the original itinerary.
• It downgrades you to a lower class of service.

If Friday's disruption pushed your flight past those limits and you chose not to take it, the refund rule applies the same way it does to a cancellation.

Canceling a trip yourself falls under the airline's waiver, not the federal rule:

Section 260.6 covers flights "cancelled or significantly delayed or changed by carriers." If your flight is still scheduled to operate on time and you decide not to go, the federal rule doesn't cover it. Your options then come from the airline's own policy. The airlines posted special waivers for the ground stop, and they treat a passenger who cancels in different ways.

United, Delta and Alaska posted ground stop waivers with different rebooking windows:

These are the terms the three airlines posted on Friday evening. Waivers can change, so check your airline's page before you act.

FAA ground stop travel waivers as posted November 13, 2026:

• United's travel alert is the most generous for a passenger who decides not to travel: "If you cancel or don't take your trip, you can get a full refund."
• Delta's advisory offers an eCredit to a passenger who cancels.
• Alaska and Hawaiian's policy offers Wallet funds or a credit certificate on nonrefundable fares. The travel-agent terms on the same page also allow a refund to the original form of payment. Changes must be made before the original flight departs, and the waiver covers only tickets issued by Alaska, with numbers beginning 027.

None of these waivers replaces the federal rule. If the airline itself canceled your flight, the cash refund is due whatever the waiver says about credits.

Meal vouchers and hotel rooms are not guaranteed after an FAA ground stop:

Airlines have made public commitments, which DOT tracks and says it will enforce, about how they look after passengers when the airline causes a cancellation or long delay. DOT's dashboard lists the commitments each of nine large U.S. airlines has made:

• All nine commit to a meal or meal voucher when a cancellation leaves you waiting three hours or more.
• Eight of the nine commit to a hotel room and ground transportation for an overnight cancellation. Frontier does not.
• None of the nine commits to cash compensation for the wait.

DOT defines a "controllable" cancellation or delay as one "caused by the airline." Its examples are maintenance or crew problems, cabin cleaning, baggage loading and fueling. The FAA, not an airline, ordered Friday's ground stop, so these commitments don't apply to the cancellations it caused.

That doesn't mean you can't ask. DOT's own advice for any long delay or cancellation is to ask airline staff whether they will pay for meals or a hotel room. Some airlines provide them at their discretion.

Passengers held on a plane during the ground stop had tarmac delay protections:

A ground stop can leave passengers waiting on aircraft that have already left the gate. Federal tarmac delay rules apply whatever the cause:

• Food and water within two hours of the delay starting, unless the pilot decides that safety or security considerations prevent it.
• Working lavatories and medical attention if needed.
• Status updates once the delay passes 30 minutes.
• A chance to get off the plane before three hours on a domestic flight or four hours on an international one.

The three-hour limit has exceptions. They include a pilot's safety or security concern, and air traffic control advising that a return to the gate "would significantly disrupt airport operations."

DOT is not enforcing the refund rule for renumbered flights until July 7, 2027:

Under the rule as written, a flight that is given a new flight number counts as canceled, which would trigger a refund. In a Federal Register notice on July 7, 2026, DOT extended its decision not to enforce that part of the rule. The pause runs until July 7, 2027. It covers passengers rebooked onto a renumbered flight that operates without a significant change or delay.

If your Friday flight was renumbered and still left within the limits above, DOT will not enforce the refund requirement for it. DOT is also writing a new definition of a canceled flight, so this part of the rule may change.

Tickets bought through a travel site go through the ticket agent:

If you booked through an online travel agency or another third party, that company may be the "merchant of record," the business that charged your card. In that case you ask the agency for the refund. The airline must tell the agency "without delay" whether you are eligible, under section 260.6(d). California's separate rules for travel consolidators are in our guide to airline ticket fraud laws.

California law separately requires a seller of travel, such as a travel agency, to provide the air travel you paid for or refund the money, under Business and Professions Code section 17550.14. Our explainer on California's travel refund law covers the deadlines.

The Travel Refund Law (California Ticket Laws)

Booked a vacation package or flight that fell through? Learn your legal rights under California Business and Professions Code Section 17550.14, which dictates exactly when and how travel agencies must issue your refund.

California TodayMac Douglass | Editor

A DOT complaint is the next step if an airline refuses a refund:

DOT asks travelers to give the airline a chance first, at the airport or through the airline's complaint process. Airlines must acknowledge a complaint within 30 days and send a written response within 60.

If that doesn't resolve it, you can file a complaint with DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection through its complaint page or by mail at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590. DOT directs the airline or ticket agent to respond to you and to send DOT a copy. It doesn't investigate every complaint, but complaints can lead to enforcement action against an airline.

Getting a flight refund after the FAA ground stop comes down to four checks:

1. Confirm the airline changed the flight. If the airline canceled it, or moved it by three hours or more on a domestic trip, the refund rule applies whatever caused the change.
2. Don't accept a credit you don't want. A refund becomes due once you turn down the rebooking and the credit. An airline can't count you as having accepted a credit without your clear agreement.
3. Watch the deadline. Seven business days for a credit card, 20 calendar days for other payment methods.
4. Complain in order. Start with the airline, then go to DOT if the airline doesn't pay.

For a traveler whose flight the airline canceled, federal rules guarantee a cash flight refund after the FAA ground stop. Meals, hotels and waiver credits depend on the airline.

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What to read next

• California's travel refund law for sellers of travel
• 2026 California airline ticket fraud rules
• What counts as a "seller of travel" under California law