Dateline - November 7th 2002
National Airlines no more

On November 6th, 2002, National Airlines ceased all operations. The sudden announcement on Wednesday left some of its passengers stranded as all flights were cancelled immediately.

The airplanes of the Las Vegas-based carrier are grounded. The National Airlines web site advises that no ticket refunds will be offered by the airline. Passengers are therefore advised to contact their credit card companies immediately.

The web site lists the phone numbers of different U.S. airlines that MAY accept stranded National Airlines passengers. In such situations where a smaller airline without partnerships with other airlines goes under a few airlines may or may not accept passengers on a standby basis. Passengers are advised to call other airlines to see if they will accept National's tickets.

When speaking with your credit card company be certain to record the name of the credit card company representative that you speak with, and dispute the charge in order to remove the cost of the ticket from your credit card balance.

If you have travel insurance, contact your insurer to see if there is anything they can do. If you are a stranded passenger see if they can help you secure alternate transportation or accommodation as necessary.

If you are a stranded passenger - after speaking with your credit card company and/or your travel insurer, contact various airlines to see if they will accept your ticket and what flight loads (passengers booked on a flight) look like in order to know what flights are best for standby.

For more information about the cessation of National Airlines, click on the following link: The official explanation.