Biden Vows Compensation for Flight Delays and Cancellations Will Be ‘Top Priority’ — How Customers Will Benefit
After getting hit hard by pandemic-era lockdowns and lengthy travel bans, airline carriers have struggled to keep up with increased demand, resulting in worker shortages, delayed and cancelled flights and disgruntled passengers expecting better compensation for their lost time and money.
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In an effort to require airlines to provide passengers with meals, hotels, ground transportation and monetary compensation when their flights are delayed of cancelled, the Biden administration has vowed to make new regulations a “top priority” ahead of the busy summer travel season.
First tabled last fall, the new rules will require carriers to give assistance and monetary compensation to passengers when airlines are at fault for cancellations or delays of more than three hours. Airlines will have to cover other costs incurred by travelers, such as hotels, meals and ground transportation in addition to free rebooking or refunding the ticket price. Furthermore, disrupted fliers will be entitled to a payment in the form of cash, miles or travel vouchers under the new regulations.
President Biden and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced details of the proposed regulations on May 8. Biden didn’t discuss a specific timeline, but expects the Department of Transportation “to move as quickly as it can to put this new rule in place,” according to White House remarks.
“Later this year, my administration will propose a historic new rule that will make it mandatory, not voluntary but mandatory, for all U.S. airlines to compensate you with meals, hotels, taxis, ride shares and rebooking fees, and cash miles and or travel vouchers, whenever they’re the ones to blame for the cancellation or delay,” said Biden. “And that’s all on top of refunding the cost of your ticket.”
According to existing U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, if you cancel your trip as a result of an unexpected called off flight, airlines are obligated to provide a refund — even on non-refundable tickets — for your unused reserved flight, plus any costs associated to your ticket (i.e.: reserved seat assignments of bag fees).
However, there are no federal laws governing other compensation. Each air carrier has its own refund policy regarding delayed passengers, and airlines aren’t required to reimburse cancelled passengers for anything that falls outside the cancelled air ticket and associated fees. The new compensation rules aim to rectify the current unbalanced situation and improve customer service.
“We depend on airlines to get us to weddings, vacations and job interviews that often wind up being some of the most important and memorable events in our lives,” Buttigieg said Monday. “And our economy depends on these airlines doing a good job.”
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As The New York Times reported, around 20% of flights were delayed in 2022, according to Department of Transportation stats. There have been 465 total delays and 68 cancellations within, into or out of the United States today, per live digital flight status and tracking website FlightAware.
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