On September 4, the Trump administration announced that a consumer right to compensation for delayed flights from airlines would be terminated.
On the same day, the Department of Transportation announced that it would also remove a rule that forced airlines and ticket agents to display service fees.
Both consumer protections were passed under former President Joe Biden. The rule that served compensation for delayed flights specifically was to provide $300 for domestic routes, and $775 for international routes. Cancellations were also to be covered. Passed in April 2024, the rule never went into effect, but presumably would have saved consumers as a whole millions of dollars.
The Department of Transportation has also expressed intentions to limit consumer entitlement to flight refunds when flights are cancelled, as well as to reduce regulations on advertising requirements as they relate to flights.
This rollback of consumer rights comes after airline CEOs appealed to Trump to do so. These reforms come despite Trump’s pledges to put normal, working and middle class Americans first.
