The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Thursday it is pursuing a new rule that would force airlines to compensate passengers for long delays that are the airlines’ fault, including those caused by mechanical issues.
The compensation could be at least $200 and up to $775 depending on how long the delay is. The rule could also require airlines to rebook customers for free on the next available flight and cover the cost of their meals and lodging while they’re stranded.
The proposal is part of a string of reforms from President Joe Biden’s administration aimed at making airlines more accountable for consumer headaches. But because the rule is only being developed at the tail end of the Biden administration, it would be left to President-elect Donald Trump to follow through on implementing it.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the proposal “another step forward into a better era for commercial air travel.”
“Americans know the importance of a robust airline industry, which is why this country — and U.S. taxpayers — kept U.S. airlines afloat when the COVID pandemic threatened their very existence,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “Now that we are on the other side of the pandemic and air travel is breaking records, we must continue to advance passenger protections.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the new Department of Transportation rule would make air travel more passenger-friendly. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images
The details of the rule have not been finalized, but the agency said it is considering a tiered approach to compensation: $200 to $300 for delays between three and six hours; $375 to $525 for those between six and nine; and $750 to $775 for those beyond nine.
Airlines for America, a leading trade group for the U.S. airline industry, said the proposal was misguided and would drive up ticket prices. It maintains that the industry is competitive enough that it doesn’t need such mandates.
“This proposal is simply one in a long string of ill-conceived and rushed rules from an administration intent on reregulating the U.S. airline industry. Four decades of real-world results show how deregulation benefits consumers,” Marli Collier, a spokesperson for the group, said in an email.
The DOT said airlines currently have “no legal obligation” to inform passengers what they might be entitled to under airline policy, like reimbursement for cabs and lodging during an avoidable delay. The proposal is aimed at creating “baseline standards” for what airlines’ obligations are.
In addition to covering mechanical delays, the compensation could be triggered by an “IT airline system breakdown” that snarls flights. But the agency said it’s seeking input on when to consider a delay “within an airline’s control,” unlike the weather.
In 2022 and 2023, over 60% of domestic flight delays of at least three hours were the fault of the airlines, the DOT said.
The Biden administration has targeted the airline industry for tighter regulation, highlighting the routine annoyances travelers face. In August, the DOT said it was pursuing a rule that would bar airlines from charging flyers extra just to sit next to their children.
But as with the proposal announced Thursday, the incoming Trump administration may be able to walk back or ditch that rule altogether.
