DOT Moves to Strengthen Rules on Refunds for Flight Changes, Cancellations

pcmag.com:

The Department of Transportation is proposing a set of rules that would give travelers additional protection if airline schedule changes upend their travel–or if a future pandemic upends the airline industry. 

The proposed rules announced Wednesday(Opens in a new window) and described in detail in a 116-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking(Opens in a new window) (PDF) would clarify what counts as a significant change to an itinerary after which an airline would have to offer a refund:

The schedule shifts enough to move the departure or arrival time three or more hours on a domestic flight, or six or more hours on an international flight;

The flight would depart from or arrive at a different airport than originally scheduled;

The schedule change would add a connection to the original itinerary;

The change would leave the customer with a lower class of service, like from premium economy to economy;

The new flight would involve a different aircraft type with significantly worse seating or amenities.

The rule would also define “cancellation” as a particular flight vanishing from the schedule. As View From the Wing blogger Gary Leff notes(Opens in a new window), during the early days of the pandemic, United Airlines told some customers that a flight cancellation wouldn’t be eligible for a refund(Opens in a new window) if the airline could still get them to their destination within six hours of the original schedule.

“When Americans buy an airline ticket, they should get to their destination safely, reliably, and affordably,” the DOT announcement quotes Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This new proposed rule would protect the rights of travelers and help ensure they get the timely refunds they deserve from the