Delays, cancellations caused by FAA system outage could result in travel insurance claims
A preliminary investigation traced the outage to a damaged database file. No evidence of a cyberattack has been found, the FAA reports.
More than 7,000 flights were delayed and over 1,000 were canceled yesterday, Jan. 11, 20233, as all domestic air travel departures in the U.S. were halted after the Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) systems suffered an outage, the Federal Aviation Administration reports. NOTAM systems provide safety information to flight operation personnel.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the ground stoppage lasted about an hour and a half nationwide.
“We are always going to err on the side of safety. Having said that, we also have to make sure we understand everything there is to understand about this situation so we can ensure that a disruption like that doesn’t happen again,” Buttigieg said in a message posted to social media.
The FAA reported it was still investigating the root cause of the outage, but preliminary work traced the failure to a damaged database file. The agency said it hasn’t found any evidence of a cyberattack as of Jan. 11, 2023.
Implications for travel insurance claims
According to Megan Moncrief, chief marketing officer for travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth Inc., the FAA outage might be an event covered by travel insurance, depending on the provider and policy.
Following the outage, it appeared that most travelers had their trips delayed rather than canceled outright, Moncrief says, noting that travel delays, missed connections and baggage insurance benefits could be applicable.
“Some providers have confirmed they would also extend trip cancellation and interruption benefits, should a traveler miss a portion of their trip or cancel their trip in its entirety,” she tells PropertyCasualty360.com. “In any case, the eligible benefits differ between providers. If travelers are specifically concerned with issues like this, or even the Southwest meltdown from earlier in the season, it’s important to confirm the applicable benefits with a travel insurance expert.”
Additionally, most travel insurance policies cover any delay experienced by a “common carrier,” and some policies do include the FAA in their definition of a common carrier for the purpose of trip delay and missed connection benefits, Moncrief says.
“These benefits can cover the additional expenses incurred during the delay and include reimbursement to catch you up to your trip,” she says. “In the example of the Southwest issue, we saw travelers drive to their destination and forego their flights altogether. This is an example of how the missed connection benefit can be applied.”
When it comes to trip cancellation and interruption benefits, the list of specific occurrences that must be met before coverage kicks in is more rigid, according to Moncrief, who notes it is usually restricted to mechanical breakdowns, strikes or weather. However, some insurance companies do cover power outages as well.
“If a policy does cover the FAA outage, and it caused the traveler to miss all or a portion of their trip, such as a day at their hotel or a prepaid excursion for that day, they could be eligible for reimbursement or a full refund for the entire trip expense,” she says.
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