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Biden, DOT aim to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers for meals, hotels, rebooking
Photo by SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images

Biden, DOT aim to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers for meals, hotels, rebooking

President Biden and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced plans to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers for controllable flight cancellations and delays at a press briefing Monday afternoon.

"The airline industry is a key part of our economy," said President Joe Biden, noting that airlines had been "critical partners" by "requiring employees to get COVID vaccines."

"Our top priority has been to get American air travelers a better deal," Biden also said, adding that American taxpayers had put $50 billion into the industry during the Trump administration to keep it afloat at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Biden went on to provide some details on how the DOT's proposed rulemaking would benefit consumers. Though he mentioned covering taxi fare as part of the package, that particular detail is not mentioned in the DOT's announcement.

"When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement prior to the press conference.

According to the agency's press release and newly expanded dashboard, few airlines currently provide passengers with compensation when passengers experience a delay or a cancellation caused by the airline.

The dashboard page provides three charts with green check marks and red Xs to indicate various airlines' commitments to fee-free family seating, controllable cancellations, and controllable delays. It is sortable by airline.

"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," Secretary Buttigieg also said in the press release.

According to the DOT, the ten largest airlines now guarantee meals and free rebooking on the same airline. Nine guarantee hotel accommodations.

The proposed rulemaking would make passenger compensation and amenities mandatory "so that travelers are taken care of when airlines cause flight disruptions."

On top of the proposed rules, FlightRights.gov added a number of categories to its Airline Customer Service Dashboard to "give travelers more transparency about the types of compensation, if any, airlines currently guarantee when they are the cause of a cancellation or delay.

The newly added categories cover passengers who have to wait three or more hours for a flight from its scheduled departure time. Those categories include cash, travel credit/voucher, and frequent flyer miles.

What constitutes a "controllable cancellation or delay" will also be defined by the DOT in this rulemaking process.

Watch video below of today's press conference with President Joe Biden and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discussing proposed rulemaking that would mandate compensation for passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed.

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