The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it is pursuing a new rule that would force airlines to compensate passengers for long delays that are the airline’s fault, including delays caused by mechanical problems.
Compensation can be a minimum of $200 and a maximum of $775, depending on how long the delay lasts. 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 are stranded.
The proposal is part of a series of reforms by President Joe Biden’s administration aimed at making airlines more responsible for consumer problems. But because the rule is not being developed until the end of the Biden administration, it would be left to President-elect Donald Trump to implement it.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the proposal “another step forward toward a better era for commercial air travel.”
“Americans know the importance of a robust airline industry, which is why this country – and American taxpayers – kept American airlines afloat when the COVID pandemic threatened their survival,” 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 promote passenger protection.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation’s new rule would make air travel more passenger-friendly. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images
The details of the rule have not yet been finalized, but the agency said it is considering a phased approach to compensation: $200 to $300 for delays between three and six hours; $375 to $525 for people ages six to nine; and $750 to $775 for those over nine.
Airlines for America, a leading trade group for the U.S. airline industry, said the proposal was misleading and would drive up ticket prices. It argues that the sector is competitive enough not to need such mandates.
“This proposal is simply one in a long line of ill-conceived and hasty regulations from an administration seeking to reregulate the U.S. aviation industry. Four decades of real-world results show how deregulation benefits consumers,” Marli Collier, spokesperson for the group, said in an email.
The DOT said airlines currently have “no legal obligation” to inform passengers what they may be entitled to under the airline’s policies, such as reimbursement for taxis and accommodations during an avoidable delay. The proposal aims to create “basic standards” for what airlines’ obligations are.
In addition to covering mechanical delays, compensation can be triggered by a “fault in the airline IT system” that causes flights to be halted. But the agency said it is seeking input on when to consider a delay “within the airline’s control,” as opposed to weather.
In 2022 and 2023, more than 60% of domestic flight delays of at least three hours were the fault of airlines, the DOT said.
The Biden administration has pushed the airline industry for stricter regulations, highlighting the routine annoyances travelers face. In August, the DOT said it was pursuing a rule that would ban airlines from charging fliers extra just to sit next to their children.
But as with the proposal announced Thursday, the new Trump administration could potentially walk back or eliminate that rule altogether.
