United Cancels Nashville Flight Out Of Newark Due To Weather. Customer Says That’s $2,000 ‘Down The Drain.’ Then She Checks Outgoing Flights

A woman is calling out United Airlines after claiming that the company possibly lied about weather problems to cancel her flight.

In a video with over 80,000 views, TikTok user Chloe van Berkel (@chloevanberkel) claims that $2,000 is “down the drain because United absolutely screwed me and my friends on our flight this morning.”

According to van Berkel, she and her friends booked a flight from Newark to Nashville “a month ago.” The day of their flight, however, it was delayed six hours. Then, it was canceled completely.

“We spent $1,500 on an Airbnb; another couple hundred on a rental car. All this stuff is already booked, non refundable, ready for our trip,” she summarizes.

Things Get Worse

While she thought that United would just put her on the next flight out, she says the airline gave her “no options” to do so. Instead, she was simply refunded—leaving her friend group to pay exorbitant last minute flight prices.

“Our trip was only 48 hours. It was very, very quick. We need to sit on a flight this morning. And they said, ‘There’s nothing we can do to help you,’” she states.

The airline, she says, then told her that the flight was canceled due to weather. The cancellation, they said, was “just keeping you safe,” according to the TikToker.

“But tell me why there was a 10:30 flight out of Newark from Newark to Nashville today. There was a 1:30 flight also, and our flight at 12 got canceled and couldn’t fly due to weather. But those two flights took off with no issue,” van Berkel shares. “So, obviously wasn’t due to safety. It was due to your poor planning and not getting us a plane.”

She then laments that she and her friends are now out thousands of dollars.

“That’s ridiculous,” she concludes. “That’s actually criminal.”

Do Airlines Really Lie About Weather?

Without knowing the specifics of the TikToker’s flight, it’s impossible to say whether United was lying when they canceled the flight due to weather.

That said, there’s substantial evidence to suggest that airlines routinely mislead passengers about their reasons for delaying flights. Specifically, weather gets blamed a lot—but it’s not always the true reason for a flight issue.

Depending on the timespan, anywhere from a quarter to a third of U.S. flight delays are actually weather-related. According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, about 31% of delays in June and July of 2026 were due to weather.

While there’s no strong data to say how often airlines tell passengers their delay or cancellation is due to weather, any frequent flyer will tell you that it seems to be the airlines’ go-to excuse. So what’s really going on?

It’s Not Always A Lie

Airlines don’t always lie about weather being the reason for the delay. Instead, this could just be passengers misunderstanding what a weather delay means—or the airline misrepresenting how impactful the weather really was.

For example, a passenger might hear “Your flight is delayed due to weather,” look at their flight path and see no poor weather conditions, and wonder what the heck is going on.

Weather on your flight path does not tell the whole story. Sometimes, bad weather can have a “knock on” effect. Say you have a flight from Atlanta to Newark. The flight path is clear, but the plane you’re taking is flying from Chicago, where there’s bad weather. If there’s a delay in the plane’s flight from Chicago, your flight to Newark may be delayed. Airlines are allowed to attribute this delay to bad weather, even if other flights are able to make the Atlanta to Newark trip without issue.

That said, airlines aren’t always honest about weather being the whole reason for the delay or cancellation.

For example, a Government Accountability Office report looked at three major airline disruptions in 2021. While each one started with an outside event such as severe weather, the GAO found that airline staffing and other operational problems prolonged disruptions.

Given this, the Department of Transportation admitted that airlines may be “ ignoring factors that were within their control that caused or exacerbated consumer harm” when determining the reason for delays.

What Can You Do If You Think An Airline Is Being Dishonest?

So, why would an airline be dishonest about the reason for their flight delay or cancellation?

No one is sure. That said, a representative for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office has claimed that airlines are incentivized “to blame delays on weather because, when a delay is attributed to weather, the airline would not have to provide vouchers, meals, or hotels, and other amenities,” per a 2024 report.

If you believe your airline has lied about its reasons for the delay, there are a few steps you can take. First, you should get the airline’s explanation in writing. Save any app notifications, texts, and emails, and ask customer service for a specific cause for the delay in writing.

From there, you can submit a written claim to the airline. This claim can cite relevant evidence, such as actual weather reporting, and list any benefits you feel were denied due to the airline’s alleged dishonesty.

Finally, if that proves inadequate, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. Include all relevant information and shared evidence in this complaint.

No matter what happens, if your flight is canceled, you are generally entitled to a refund. Alternatively, most airlines will try to book you on the next available flight out.

‘This Is Why I Started Buying Travel Insurance’

In the comments, some claimed that the TikToker was not being entirely honest about her situation.

“I fly United almost exclusively and at least 30 flights a year, this has never happened. Rebooking is always an option. Now, it may have been the next day, which probably wasn’t convenient for a two day trip…but they always reschedule,” wrote a user. “You’re telling me a whole plane full of people were canceled and not rebooked? Doubt that.”

But in response to comments like these, she insisted that she was given no such alternative booking option.

“I went to the app and was given no rebooking options and told i was given an immediate refund,” she wrote in a comment.

Others said that airline issues like these were common, with many bemoaning the current state of the American airline industry.

“This is why I started buying travel insurance for all my trips. So many things are happening anymore it is a great thing to have,” suggested a commenter. “I actually had to use it when I went on a trip to Italy. Best things I ever purchased.”

“Being able to use the ‘bad weather’ needs to be regulated,” declared another.

BroBible reached out to United via email and van Berkel via email and Instagram direct message.