Major Airlines Urge Trump Administration to Abandon Passenger Compensation Review

• Major U.S. airlines on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, asked the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) to abandon a review launched by the Biden administration over whether carriers should be required to pay passengers compensation over flight disruptions.
• Airlines for America, a trade group representing American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and others, urged the Trump administration to end the review launched in December to take comments on whether airlines in the United States should provide cash to compensate for carrier-caused disruptions like they are required to do in the European Union and Canada.
• "Airlines do not need further incentive to provide quality service," the group wrote, arguing that USDOT lacks legal authority and that the requirement would drastically boost airlines' costs and hike ticket prices.
• Then, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in December that compensation rules for delays "would change the economic incentive in a way that motivates airlines to do more."
• In May 2023, President Joe Biden said his administration would within months write rules requiring airlines to compensate passengers for disrupted flights. Airlines must refund passengers for cancelled flights but are not required to compensate customers for delays.
• Major carriers have committed to paying for meals, hotel stays, and other expenses when they cause significant flight disruptions. Last month, a U.S. court blocked the Biden administration's 2024 rule requiring upfront disclosure of airline service fees, saying USDOT had not complied with procedural rules.

(Source: Reuters)