Unless it’s due to the weather, if there’s a flight delay or cancellation, passengers are entitled to some kind of refund, unless of course it’s due to the weather, but are flight delays as due to the weather as often as airlines say they are? And how would you go about proving otherwise? Well, as a fascinating interview posted over at airline blog Elliot.org informs us, you could always hire the services of a forensic meteorologist.

As Elliot points out, there’s no formal audit of airline’s claims of delays due to weather. The Department of Transportation essential takes their word at face value.

A forensic meteorologist, on the other hand, is like a weather detective, piecing together Doppler images and technical charts to see what weather was happening where and when. Howie Altschule, a forensic meteorologist, says, “Airlines that falsely use bad weather as an excuse may be in for a rude awakening should someone decide to challenge them.”

You know how they say, “Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it?” Well, now you can. If you really feel that an airline’s weather excuse is a lie to get out of paying you your due, consider hiring a forensic meteorologist and including his findings in your correspondence with the company. While it’s difficult to predict the weather, it’s relatively easy, for a trained specialist, to see what weather we’ve already had.

Forensic meteorologist: “I believe bad weather is being used as an excuse” [Elliot]
(Photo: Getty)

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