Biden-era plan for airlines to compensate fliers for disruptions is axed

The Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump is scrapping a Biden era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate passengers f...

The Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump is scrapping a Biden-era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate passengers for airline-caused flight delays or cancellations, according to a document posted Thursday.

The proposal, introduced for public comment in December in the final weeks of the Biden administration, called for airlines to pay passengers between $200 and $775 in cash and to cover any meals, hotels and transportation expenses related to a flight disruption within the carrier’s control, such as a mechanical issue. The proposal would have also mandated that airlines rebook passengers on the next available flight at no additional cost.

“I don’t think we can underestimate how huge this would have been,” said William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. He said consumer advocates have been discussing the possibility for about two decades, since similar protections were enacted in Europe. “It would just basically make us on par with much of the world.”

Officials said Thursday in the document withdrawing the proposal that doing so was “consistent with Department and administration priorities.”

The Department of Transportation under President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeatedly sought to expand consumer protections through regulations that streamlined the refund process for passengers and required more transparency around airline fees. “I really want this to be known as the period when we did the biggest expansion in passenger rights since deregulation, and I think we can hit that mark,” Buttigieg told The Washington Post last year.