The trade group representing three major US airlines is asking the Trump administration to abandon its review of whether passengers need to pay compensation for flight disruptions.
The airlines representing US Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United (A4A) wrote a letter this week to the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
A letter published in the Public Rules Regulations Facility urges the Trump administration to end reviews launched in December, and compensates for carrier-induced disruptions, as US airlines are taking place in the European Union. urges you to get public comments on whether cash should be provided as. Canada.
“Airlines do not require further incentives to provide quality services,” the group wrote, and DOT has no authority to do this, with requirements significantly increasing the cost and ticket prices of the airline. They claim to do so.
A4A members will “rebook passengers on the same airline at no additional cost and offer meal or meal cash/vouchers, free hotel accommodations and/or free ground transportation according to customer service commitments ” says the letter.
Last month, DOT posed a $2 million penalty on Jetblue Airways after a federal investigation revealed that it “operates multiple chronic delayed flights.”
With DOT's orders, JetBlue had to stop the chronic flight delays.
Of the $2 million penalty, half of it went directly to the US Treasury Department. The other half was to be used to compensate passengers affected by chronic delayed flights or disruptions on future flights that caused the next JetBlue. In the year, Dot said.
According to the DOT, future coverage must be valued at a minimum of $75 for each passenger exploited.
Before the 2024 holiday season began, new Biden administration rules required automatic cash refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights, but now in effect.
The new automatic refund rules, first laid out by DOT in April, created a universal standard for flights to the US or when airline passengers are receiving refunds within the US.
Before the rules become effective, the airline will set its own standards for what flight changes guaranteed a refund.
Passengers then “we had to navigate the patchwork of the refund process and request a refund,” DOT said.
The rules were established to “address permanent issues reported by airline passengers seeking refunds.”
The International Air Transport Association, which represents airlines around the world, states that the required compensation programme will “reduce flight disruption significantly as airlines become wealth transfer tools with billions of dollars in costs. “It has become a tool for urban relocation without it.”
Spirit Airlines said the idea was very extreme. “If there are potential safety-related concerns, we may encourage carriers to reevaluate them as they proceed with flights that should be further delayed or cancelled.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
