The Biden administration is working to crack down on flight delays and cancellations by forcing airlines to pay up when passengers end up stranded.
President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are set to unveil a proposal on Monday that will require airlines to compensate passengers for major flight delays and cancellations.
The proposed rule would only apply to cancellations and delays within the airlines' control. It would require airlines to provide refunds and compensation to passengers beyond a ticket refund, covering expenses including meals, overnight accommodations and rebooking for passengers stranded by delays.
"When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill," Buttigieg said in a statement. "This rule would, for the first time in U.S. history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels, and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay."
The administration is also set to mandate "timely customer service" when airlines are confronted with widespread flight irregularities and cancellations.
Currently, one airline guarantees frequent flyer miles, two airlines guarantee travel credits or vouchers, 10 airlines guarantee meals and nine airlines guarantee hotel accommodations as compensation if passengers experience significant delays or cancellations that are caused by something within the airline's control, such as a mechanical issue. No airline guarantees cash compensation when an airline issue causes the significant delay or cancellation.
The proposed rule, if adopted, promises to change that -- ensuring passengers are "better protected from financial losses than is the case today." Officials also believe the rule could result in improved airline on-time performance.
As part of announcing the rulemaking, the Transportation Department has also launched an expanded customer service dashboard at FlightRights.Gov to give travelers more transparency about the types of compensation, if any, airlines currently guarantee when they are the cause of a cancelation or delay. The following categories were added to "Commitments for Controllable Cancellations and Controllable Delays":
• Cash compensation when cancellation or delay results in passenger waiting 3 hours or more from the scheduled departure time;
• Travel credit/voucher when cancellation or delay results in passenger waiting for 3 hours or more for scheduled departure time; and
• Frequent flyer miles when cancellation or delay results in passenger waiting for 3 hours or more for a flight from the scheduled departure time.
The online dashboard was initially launched following widespread flight disruptions last summer, in an effort to pressure airlines into better customer service and accountability for when flights are canceled or delayed.
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