Washington, DC
Reuters
—
President Donald Trump’s administration stated on Friday it was formally withdrawing a plan by his predecessor to require airways to pay passengers money compensation when US flight disruptions are brought on by carriers.
In December 2024, the US Transportation Department underneath then-President Joe Biden sought public touch upon writing guidelines to require airlines to pay $200 to $300 for home delays of at the very least three hours and up to $775 for longer delays.
In September, USDOT first disclosed it planned to withdraw the proposal. On Friday, USDOT stated the foundations would lead to “unnecessary regulatory burdens” in explaining why it could not go ahead.
Last month, a gaggle of 18 Democratic senators urged the Trump administration not to drop the compensation plan.
“This is a common-sense proposal: when an airline’s mistake imposes unanticipated costs on families, the airline should try to remedy the situation by providing accommodations to consumers and helping cover their costs,” stated the letter signed by Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, Maria Cantwell, Ed Markey and others.
Airlines within the US should refund passengers for canceled flights, however are usually not required to compensate prospects for delays. The European Union, Canada, Brazil and Britain all have airline delay compensation guidelines. No massive US airline at the moment ensures money compensation for vital flight disruption.
USDOT stated Friday in abandoning the compensation plan that it could “allow airlines to compete on the services and compensation that they provide to passengers rather than imposing new minimum requirements for these services and compensation through regulation, which would impose significant costs on airlines.”
USDOT additionally introduced in September it was contemplating rescinding Biden rules requiring airways and ticket brokers to disclose service charges alongside airfares.
It additionally plans to cut back regulatory burdens on airways and ticket brokers by writing new guidelines detailing the definition of a flight cancellation that entitles customers to ticket refunds, in addition to revisiting guidelines on ticket pricing and promoting.
Airlines have pushed the Trump administration to go additional and praised the motion to rescind the Biden plan.