How the research desk works.

Selection and scope

We began with airlines relevant to travelers who experience airline-initiated itinerary changes across North America, Europe, and international routes. This is a convenience sample, not a random or exhaustive sample. An entry is published when a current, first-party page or contract can be inspected and a source-specific summary can be supported. Candidate URLs that cannot be read or whose scope is uncertain stay out of the downloadable public dataset.

We do not compare a U.S.-market refund FAQ, a global contract of carriage, and a travel-agent reissue policy as if they were equivalent. Each entry names the source type and major ticket or booking-channel caveats. A limited-source label means the page covers an adjacent disruption or cancellation scenario but does not establish the full advance schedule-change policy.

Source standards

1. Official airline policy or help page.
2. Official contract of carriage or tariff.
3. Government regulator for legal requirements.
4. Other original airline documentation, including agency guidance when its audience is clearly disclosed.

Secondary reporting may lead us to a source, but it does not replace the airline or regulator document for a published policy claim. A search snippet alone is insufficient to verify a new data point.

Field definitions

Policy availability

Type and scope of the official source reviewed, not a claim that other sources do not exist.

Rebooking and timing

Only the conditions explicitly described in that source; thresholds are never borrowed from another airline.

Airport, route, cabin, booking channel

Documented treatments and caveats in the selected source. If not reviewed, we say so.

Unknown values

“Not publicly specified in the reviewed source” means the specific document does not state it. “Not assessed in this release” means research remains to be done.

Verification and change control

The source URL, title, location within the source, and last-checked date travel with each record. Source pages can change without notice; the check date is not a promise of current applicability. Automated checks can flag possible changes, but a person must compare the relevant wording against a live primary source before a public change note or pitch is issued. Formatting, cookie banners, and navigation changes are not policy findings.

We track corrections and version changes in the research log. The initial public version is 2026-10-03.1. No historical airline-policy change is claimed by this first release because no before-and-after source pair has yet been verified.

Public version history

Version 2026-10-04.14 · October 4, 2026

Added a Cape Air record from its current website-linked passenger contract. The record distinguishes advance schedule changes, conditional alternatives after changes within the airline's control, the separate significant-change refund definition, and partner-ticket caveats. This is a source-scoped addition, not evidence that the policy recently changed or that a particular traveler is owed a remedy. The selected inventory now has 42 public records: 40 checked schedule-relevant and two limited-source.

Version 2026-10-04.13 · October 4, 2026

Updated the Sun Country Airlines record to the January 2026 passenger contract linked from its current terms page. The record now maps its definition of a significant change, Rule 240's conditional refund wording, Rule 260's calculation and ticket-issuance caveat, and the absence of a published replacement-date window in that section. The reviewed older and newer clauses did not establish a material schedule-change policy difference. This is a source-provenance and field-detail update, not a policy-change announcement or individual refund determination. The selected inventory remains 41 public records: 39 checked schedule-relevant and two limited-source.

Version 2026-10-04.12 · October 4, 2026

Added Avelo Airlines from its directly reviewed traveler help page, cross-checked against its January 2026 contract and customer service commitment. The index preserves three separate choices, the seven-day replacement-flight window, and the unresolved exactly-three-hour and different-calendar-date wording. This is a current-source addition, not a historical policy change or individual refund decision. The selected inventory now has 41 public records: 39 checked schedule-relevant and two limited-source.

Version 2026-10-04.11 · October 4, 2026

Cross-checked Frontier's refund FAQ against its Customer Service Plan §5 and current Contract of Carriage §17.E. The FAQ's greater-than-three/six-hours words differ from the plan's 180/360-minutes-or-more words at the exact boundary; the contract does not numerically settle it. This is a current-source clarification of one existing record, not a reported policy change or a passenger outcome. The inventory remains 40 candidates and 40 public records: 38 checked schedule-relevant and two limited-source.

Version 2026-10-04.10 · October 4, 2026

Added United Airlines after directly inspecting the interactive official refund-policy page, under Our policies → Delayed or canceled flights. Its listed rescheduled-flight time categories, airport changes, extra stops, cabin change, and booking-channel caveats are scoped to that page. The airline summary does not replace DOT’s direction-specific criteria or provide a full advance-change rebooking matrix. The inventory now has 40 candidates and 40 public records: 38 checked schedule-relevant and two limited-source; none withheld. This current-source addition does not establish a historical United policy change or an individual refund outcome.

Version 2026-10-04.9 · October 4, 2026

Added Jetstar Airways from its August 2026 JQ conditions, cross-checked against its traveler refund page. The contract defines a three-hour scheduled-departure change, distinguishes events within and beyond Jetstar’s control, and preserves applicable legal remedies. The inventory now has 40 candidates and 39 public records: 37 checked schedule-relevant, two limited-source, and one withheld pending verification. This current-source addition does not establish a historical policy change or an individual refund outcome.

Version 2026-10-04.8 · October 4, 2026

Added Etihad Airways from its current General Conditions of Carriage. Article 9.1.2 addresses an unacceptable significant change to scheduled timings, a 30-calendar-day post-notification contact window for seeking an alternate flight, and a conditional refund reference if no acceptable alternate can be booked. The 30 days is not a magnitude trigger or a U.S. DOT test. The reviewed clause gives no numeric definition of significant or standalone airport, connection, or cabin remedy. The inventory now has 39 candidates and 38 public records: 36 checked schedule-relevant, two limited-source, and one withheld pending verification. This is a source addition, not evidence of a historical Etihad policy change or an individual refund result.

Version 2026-10-04.7 · October 4, 2026

Added Breeze Airways from its current website-linked Contract of Carriage, updated March 20, 2025. Section 8.B addresses eligible schedule changes together with cancellations, modified flights and delays. Its 14-day interval is a conditional rebooking window, not a threshold for the size of a schedule change; the more-than-two-hour clause concerns a separate flight delay. The inventory now has 38 candidates and 37 public records: 35 checked schedule-relevant, two limited-source, and one withheld pending verification. This source addition does not establish a historical Breeze policy change or an individual refund outcome.

Version 2026-10-04.6 · October 4, 2026

Replaced WestJet’s limited redirect record with its current international passenger tariff, directly linked from WestJet’s tariff directory. Rule 75 describes non-APPR schedule irregularities and reasonable notification/transport efforts without a numeric magnitude trigger or standalone rebooking menu. Rule 85 separately defers involuntary refunds to applicable law. This is a source-quality correction, not evidence that WestJet changed its policy. The inventory remains 37 candidates and 36 public records: 34 checked schedule-relevant, two limited-source, and one withheld pending verification.

Version 2026-10-04.5 · October 4, 2026

Added LATAM Airlines from its U.S.-English traveler FAQ. The record keeps general rebooking language separate from the U.S.-connected choices and labels cancellation and rescheduling as a combined source scope. Its two 12-month phrases describe different ticket actions, not a numeric threshold for the schedule change. The inventory has 37 candidates and 36 public records: 33 checked schedule-relevant, three limited-source, and one withheld pending verification. This is a current-source addition, not evidence that LATAM changed its policy.

Version 2026-10-04.4 · October 4, 2026

Added Virgin Australia from the April 1, 2026 agency schedule-change PDF, linked from its current Agency Hub directory. The record distinguishes VA-operated and listed partner-operated planned changes, the 795-ticket requirement, rebooking windows, and refund conditions. It does not determine a Velocity reward-ticket outcome or establish a historical policy change. The inventory has 36 candidates and 35 public records: 32 checked schedule-relevant, three limited-source, and one withheld pending verification.

Version 2026-10-04.3 · October 4, 2026

Added Norwegian Air Shuttle from its current conditions of carriage. Article 11.1.3 addresses a significant departure-time change without a numeric threshold and ties a refund to the absence of an acceptable alternative. Article 11.2.3 describes different cancellation, rerouting, and delay circumstances; its hour figures are not an advance schedule-change threshold. This is an inventory addition, not a claim that Norwegian changed its policy. The inventory has 35 candidates and 34 public records: 31 checked schedule-relevant, three limited-source, and one withheld pending verification.

Version 2026-10-04.2 · October 4, 2026

Replaced Ryanair’s generic disruption-source summary with its directly reviewed rescheduled-flight options FAQ. Its rerouting, same-route free-change, and refund-application options are explicitly qualified as applicable; the reviewed FAQ states no numeric time-change trigger. Ryanair’s separate 90-day notification aim is not an eligibility threshold. This is a source correction, not evidence of a Ryanair policy change. The inventory remains 34 candidates and 33 public records: 30 checked schedule-relevant, three limited-source, and one withheld pending verification.

Version 2026-10-04.1 · October 4, 2026

Clarified JetBlue’s record after directly checking two distinct sections of its current help page. One describes 3+ or 6+ hours for earlier departure or later arrival; its dedicated schedule-change section uses more than 3 or more than 6 hours for its listed options. The measures and exact boundaries should not be collapsed into one rule. This is a source-interpretation correction, not evidence of a new airline policy. The inventory remains 34 candidates and 33 public records.

Version 2026-10-03.5 · October 3, 2026

Published Alaska Airlines’ record after direct review of the live contract revised August 25, 2026. The inventory remains 34 candidates: 29 checked schedule-relevant records, four limited-source records, and one withheld pending verification. The contract’s significant-change wording is identified as airline contract language, not a substitute for the separate DOT test. No before-and-after policy-change claim is made.

Version 2026-10-03.4 · October 3, 2026

Added Iberia’s public help page on time changes and Cathay Pacific’s current conditions of carriage after direct review. The inventory now has 34 candidates: 28 checked schedule-relevant records, four limited-source records, and two withheld pending verification. These are current document summaries, not evidence of a newly changed airline policy.

Version 2026-10-03.3 · October 3, 2026

Added the U.S.-route Emirates customer service plan and Singapore Airlines’ current conditions of carriage after direct review of their schedule-change sections. The inventory now has 32 candidates: 26 checked schedule-relevant records, four limited-source records, and two withheld pending verification. These additions do not establish a historical policy change.

Version 2026-10-03.2 · October 3, 2026

Added ANA’s current passenger-and-baggage conditions and easyJet’s current terms after direct review of their schedule-change sections. The inventory remains 30 candidates: 24 checked schedule-relevant records, four limited-source records, and two withheld pending verification. No historical airline-policy change is asserted.

Version 2026-10-03.1 · October 3, 2026

Initial selected-source release: 30 airline candidates, 22 checked schedule-relevant records, four limited-source records, and four withheld pending verification. The dataset and DOT note were first prepared on this date. No historical airline-policy change is asserted.

Future material corrections will receive a dated entry explaining the affected record and changed interpretation.