Senate Panel Grills Airline Executives Over Summer Delays, Weighs Automatic Refund Rule

WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties pressed executives from three major airlines on Wednesday to explain a summer of widespread delays and cancellations, and several signaled support for rules that would require automatic cash compensation when flights run hours late.

The four-hour hearing before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation drew a packed room and featured testimony from airline leaders, an air traffic controllers’ union representative and a consumer advocate. Lawmakers cited federal data showing that roughly 1 in 4 domestic flights arrived late between June and August, the highest share in more than a decade.

Who is to blame

Executives from Northstar Airways, Pacific Crest Airlines and Cardinal Air acknowledged the disruptions but said thunderstorms, a shortage of air traffic controllers at several busy facilities and supply chain problems with aircraft parts accounted for most of the trouble.