Travelers Face Airline Policy Chaos During Iran War

The Iran war has put airlines’ customer service policies center stage as Gulf and Asian carriers are struggling with a sudden surge of canceled flights, refund requests, and rebookings. 

Thousands of travelers stranded across the Middle East and Asia are now navigating a complex maze of airline fee waivers and customer service policies. Some carriers, including Etihad and Air India, have enacted “rolling waivers,” which apply to limited travel windows and are periodically extended. On the other hand, carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways have blanket waivers for the whole month of March. 

But now there are growing concerns that the use of rolling waivers are making it difficult for travelers to either get refunded or rebooked on another flight. 

Skift spoke with several travelers who had varying experiences. Some have not been able to receive refunds for any canceled flights, while others have been rebooked multiple times as air