My Flight Is Delayed: What to Do Now

A delay is mostly a waiting game, but the first thirty minutes are worth using well. What you do early affects the options you have later.

First, get the facts

Check the airline app and the departure board, and treat the gate agent as the authoritative source when the two disagree.

The questions worth asking, in this order:

1. Is there a new estimated departure time, and how firm is it?
2. Is the delay due to the airline, or to weather, air traffic control or a security event?
3. Is the aircraft here, and is the crew here?
4. If I have a connection, has it been protected or rebooked already?

The cause matters because it usually determines whether compensation applies. The location of the aircraft matters because an inbound aircraft that has not left its previous airport tells you more about the real timeline than any announcement will.

Protect your connection immediately

If the delay puts a connection at risk, act before the delay is confirmed rather than after. Ask to be rebooked on a later connection or an alternative routing while seats still exist.

On a single ticket, the airline is responsible for getting you to your final destination. On separate tickets, it is not, and you should look at your own options and your insurance early.

Care during a delay

Many jurisdictions require airlines to provide care once a delay passes a certain threshold - typically meals appropriate to the wait, communication, and accommodation with transport if an overnight stay becomes necessary.

Where these rules apply, they generally apply regardless of the cause of the delay, including weather. Compensation is different and usually excludes causes outside the airline's control.

Ask for what is available rather than waiting for it to be offered. Vouchers are often handed out only to passengers who approach the desk.

Keep every receipt if you buy your own food or a room. Reimbursement claims need them.

Compensation, in general terms

Several regions have passenger rights rules that provide fixed compensation for long delays caused by the airline. The specifics vary by jurisdiction, by the length of the delay, by the distance of the flight, and by where the flight departed from and which airline operated it.

What is broadly consistent:

• Compensation is separate from a refund and from the duty of care
• Extraordinary circumstances, including most weather and air traffic control events, remove the compensation obligation
• Claims are made to the airline first, in writing, with your booking reference and the flight details
• There is a time limit, and it differs by country

This is general information rather than legal advice. Check the rules that apply to your specific flight and, if a claim is refused and you disagree, look up the national enforcement body for that route.

Long delays and cancellations

If the delay becomes a cancellation, you are usually offered a choice between rebooking and a refund. Take a moment before choosing. Accepting a refund normally ends the airline's obligation to get you to your destination, and buying a last-minute replacement fare yourself is expensive.

If you still need to travel, rebooking - including onto another airline where the rules allow it - is generally the stronger option.

Practical things while you wait

• Charge everything now, not when the battery is low
• Eat properly, since decision-making gets worse when you are hungry and tired
• Consider a lounge day pass for waits over about three hours
• Tell whoever is meeting you, and adjust accommodation or car hire bookings
• Stay near the gate once the delay is under two hours, because departure times can move forward

Document everything: screenshots of the board, the app notification, and the name of anyone who tells you something significant. If a claim follows, that record is what supports it.

For onward connections that have already been missed, see our guide on missed connections.