Overview
- The Department of Transportation on Friday formally ended the proposal to require airlines to pay cash when delays are the carrier’s fault.
- The shelved plan envisioned payments of $200–$300 for domestic delays of at least three hours and up to $775 for longer disruptions within airline control.
- The move leaves U.S. travelers without mandated delay compensation, unlike the European Union, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
- Airline trade groups backed the reversal and told regulators required payouts could cost carriers as much as $5 billion per year.
- A group of 18 Democratic senators had urged keeping the rule, while USDOT is also weighing rollbacks to fee-disclosure and other consumer-protection rules.