On his last training day Denath was to fly home to Boston but the flight was cancelled due to mechanical difficulties and went to the customer service counter.  Other flights were also cancelled so the line was extremely long and after waiting a substantial amount of line, he “despaired of reaching the front of the line within a reasonable time” and booked a hotel to spend the night and departed the next day.  The government refused to reimburse him for the hotel stating the airline should have paid the cost because his trip had been cancelled and the Board agreed stating that Denath’s “contract” (terms of the airfare) with the airline clearly noted that passengers are entitled to one night’s lodging when their flight is delayed due to a reason within the control of the airline.  Here mechanical difficulties and delay of departure were obviously a situation within the control of the airline and hence it was obligated to pay so their failure to do so did not shift that responsibility to the government (Denath O. Traegde, GSBCA 16842-TRAV)

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