"Just one week after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut up to 10% of their flights from 40 major U.S. airports, the Trump administration is scrapping a Biden-era policy that made getting refunds from airlines a lot easier. On Friday, the Department of Transportation withdrew the Airline Passenger Rights policy, which regulates compensation standards for airlines and requires cash payments when airlines are responsible for flight disruptions. A federal filing obtained by SFGATE said the move was in line with the "'Department of Government Efficiency' Deregulatory Agenda.""
"In the document, the DOT said, "The Department must consider certain factors as being in the public interest in carrying out economic regulation. Among those factors are 'placing maximum reliance on competitive market forces and on actual and potential competition' and 'encouraging, developing, and maintaining an air transportation system relying on actual and potential competition to provide efficiency, innovation, and low prices.'""
"On Oct. 28, 18 Democratic Senators penned a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, asking the department "to reconsider its decision to roll back these important cost-saving protections for the flying public" and stating that the Biden-era policy was a "common-sense proposal." "Rescinding the flight delay compensation policy is a big loss for airline passengers who experience a major disruption to their travel plans. To be sure, the policy would have applied to delays that are within the control of the airlines so weather-related delays are exempt," Kerry Tan, an air travel expert and economics professor at Loyola University Maryland, told SFGATE in an email."
One week after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut up to 10% of flights at 40 major U.S. airports, the Department of Transportation withdrew the Airline Passenger Rights policy. The policy regulated compensation standards and required cash payments when airlines were responsible for disruptions. The DOT framed the withdrawal as aligning with a 'Department of Government Efficiency' deregulatory agenda and prioritized reliance on competitive market forces. Eighteen Democratic senators urged reconsideration, calling the policy cost-saving and common-sense. Industry groups opposed the rule, arguing the compensation mandates would increase costs for passengers and airlines. An air travel expert described the rollback as a significant loss for affected passengers.
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