6 airlines must pay $600 million in refunds over pandemic delays

Frontier Airlines and five foreign carriers have agreed to refund more than $600 million combined to travelers whose trips were canceled or significantly delayed since the start of the pandemic, federal officials said Monday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it also fined the same airlines more than $7 million for delaying refunds for so long that they violated consumer-protection rules.

The largest U.S. airlines accounted for the bulk of complaints about refunds and avoided fines. An official said no other U.S. carriers are being investigated for potential fines.