Flight delayed or canceled? If so, these are your rights and what the airline owes you.

Airlines are assailed with complaints every time there is a spike in flight cancellations and delays, and every time, too many passengers are left bewildered, unsatisfied or even fuming at airlines' responses. 

There is a disconnect between what passengers think they are owed and what airlines owe them when flights plans go haywire thanks to a patchwork of federal regulations and airline policies.  

Some rules, like those covering refunds for cancellations and significant flight delays by the airline, are dictated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Others, like hotel and meal vouchers and expense reimbursement, are up to individual airline policies spelled out in dozens of pages of legalese known as a contract of carriage.