The Transportation Department wants to’strengthen’ passenger refund rights
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Wednesday, the Department of Transportation announced a plan that would require airlines to give refunds to passengers if a flight schedule is changed significantly or if the airline makes major changes to a passenger’s itinerary.
In a press release, the department said it had gotten “a flood” of complaints about air travel service from people who had non-refundable tickets but didn’t use them because of changes or cancellations or because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It said that the terms for “significant change” and “cancellation” had not been set before.
This has led to “inconsistency” among airlines, and it is said that some airlines have questioned the Transportation Department’s right to ask for refunds during the pandemic.
Changes to a flight’s departure or arrival airport, an increase in the number of connections, a change in the departure or arrival time of three or more hours for a domestic flight or six or more hours for an international flight, or a change in the type of aircraft flown that makes air travel a lot less pleasant would be considered “significant.”
A cancelled flight is one that was listed in the computer reservation system when the ticket was sold, but wasn’t actually run by the carrier. Also, the proposal would require airlines and ticket agents to give passengers flight credits in the form of vouchers that are good forever if they can’t fly because of COVID.
Airlines and ticket agents that get a lot of help from the government because of a pandemic would have to give refunds instead of travel credits or vouchers that don’t expire.
The public will have a chance to say what they think about the proposal, and on August 22 there will be an online meeting to talk about the rule. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, “When Americans buy an airline ticket, they should be able to get to their destination in a safe, reliable, and affordable way. This new rule proposal would protect travellers’ rights and help make sure they get the refunds they deserve from airlines in a timely manner.”
In 2020, there were almost seven times as many complaints about refunds as there were the year before. Most of the complaints were about refunds.
A report from the department says that the number of airline complaints almost tripled in May compared to the same month three years ago.
