BackBiden to Propose Airline Rule to Compensate Passengers for Delays, Cancellations
Officials say factors within carriers’ control drove increases in flight disruptions in recent years
PremiumThe Biden administration intends to propose a new rule that would require airlines to compensate passengers when flight plans change drastically due to causes within the carriers’ control, a White House official said.
The rule-making would require airlines to provide cash compensation in addition to refunds, similar to passenger-protection measures required in the European Union, when flights are canceled or passengers endure significant delays due to airline-caused disruption. It would also require airlines to cover expenses such as overnight hotel accommodations and transportation during such significant flight disruptions—services many carriers already provide.
President Biden will join Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Monday at the White House to announce the planned rule-making, which is the latest consumer-friendly effort by the administration to crack down on costs facing Americans.
Mr. Biden has previously pressed the airline industry to show the total cost of ticket prices upfront, including baggage and seat-change fees, and used part of his State of the Union address in February to rail against fees imposed by airlines for seat assignments, including those that families pay so they can sit with their children.
“When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill," Mr. Buttigieg said.
Airlines have come under growing scrutiny for operational stumbles in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic. Carriers received billions of dollars of government aid to avoid layoffs during the pandemic, and lawmakers and regulators have expressed frustration at their rocky recovery.
In a report last month, the Government Accountability Office found that factors within airlines’ control drove increases in flight disruptions in recent years, as airlines have had a more difficult time recovering when things go wrong. Disruptions lasted longer and became more common as the industry strained to rebuild itself quickly enough to match resurgent demand, the report said.
Airlines for America, an industry lobbying group, has said there are many factors outside airlines’ control that contribute to disruptions including air-traffic control staffing and technology.
U.S. carriers are already required to issue refunds if a flight is canceled or “significantly delayed" and a customer opts not to travel. The Transportation Department last year proposed tightening those rules, making it more clear when refunds are mandated.
When the disruption is because of something within the airline’s control, such as a staffing shortfall or mechanical problem, many carriers have policies to offer passengers amenities such as overnight hotel accommodations and meal vouchers.
The Transportation Department last year launched an online dashboard illustrating what different airlines offer passengers in those cases, with green check marks when an airline does provide a particular amenity or service, and red Xs when it doesn’t.
The DOT will expand the dashboard to highlight which airlines offer cash compensation, provide travel credits or vouchers, or award frequent-flier miles as compensation for disruptions. No airline currently guarantees cash compensation in cases of preventable delays and cancellations, the White House said.
The department has lauded the dashboard as a tool that nudged airlines to commit to such policies in writing within their customer-service plans, making them enforceable. Airlines have countered that they already offered some or all of the services in the dashboard before it was launched. Airlines for America has said the dashboard doesn’t reflect other “discretionary relief" carriers will provide in individual circumstances.
The industry group has said it supports some of the other rules the DOT has proposed already, including more clearly defining what constitutes a “significant delay" that would require an airline to offer passengers a refund, something that isn’t spelled out under current rules.
The administration’s proposal to require additional compensation beyond refunds is likely to generate pushback. Airlines have argued in the past that such proposals make travel more costly for everyone.
European Union rules require airlines to provide compensation in addition to refunds when flights are canceled or delayed by more than three hours, unless the carrier can prove that the disruption was caused by extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances.
Some Democratic lawmakers have previously argued that the DOT needs to do more to ensure customers get their money back and are compensated for the inconveniences of delayed and canceled flights.
In a letter last year, Democratic Sens. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said airlines should cover secondary costs, such as hotel rooms, food and transportation to and from the airports, when flight problems are within the carriers’ control. The senators said these requirements should be enshrined in the regulations. The lawmakers also suggested at the time that there could be “additional ways to compensate passengers for significant flight delays or cancellations within the airline’s control."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) has cautioned that some proposals might inadvertently worsen the problems.
“While we look at potential legislation in this area, we need to be careful not to impose regulations that make flying more miserable or costly," he said during a Senate committee hearing in March.
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