Trump Administration Cancels Biden Plan To Compensate Airline Passengers for Delays

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The Trump administration on Thursday announced it will reverse a Biden-era plan that would compensate airline passengers whose flights are disrupted.

In December, then-President Joe Biden’s administration sought public comment on paying customers on domestic flights $200 to $300 if their flights are delayed for more than three hours, and $775 for longer delays. The proposal had not gone into effect. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation withdrew the proposal altogether.

“Consistent with Department and administration priorities, the Department plans to withdraw the [Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking],” it said.

A trade group representing major domestic carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, praised the move.

“We are encouraged by this Department of Transportation reviewing unnecessary and burdensome regulations that exceed its authority and don’t solve issues important to our customers,” the organization, Airlines for America, said.

Currently, airlines must compensate customers when flights are canceled, but not when they are delayed.

Additionally, on Thursday, the Trump administration said it is mulling whether to nix another Biden-era regulation that requires ticket agents to disclose service fees so that customers can avoid higher costs.

President Donald Trump has said that high-speed rail in the U.S. isn’t needed because Americans can simply fly to their destinations, sometimes for as little as $2.

“You take an airplane – it costs you $2,” he said in February while slamming a passenger rail project in California. “It costs you nothing. You take an airplane. But this got started. And if you have to, you drive, you can drive.”

In June, the president demonstrated that his false claim about $2 flights wasn’t a misspeak by repeating it.

“And I’d like to get somebody involved in the rail because look, personally, it should’ve never been built because you can fly there for $2,” he said of a flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco.