FILE - A United Airlines flight information screen displays flight information, including canceled flights, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Jan. 14, 2024. Consumer groups are pushing Congress to uphold automatic refunds for airline passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed for several hours. Consumer groups are pushing Congress to uphold automatic refunds for airline passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed for several hours.
The eight words are not new. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., included them in the bill she introduced last June to reauthorizeprograms for five years, and an amendment to strip them out failed in the Senate Commerce Committee, which Cantwell chairs. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said this week that his department has good legal authority for its rule on automatic refunds. However, John Breyault, an advocate with the National Consumers League, said the language in the new bill could make it easier for airlines to block automatic refunds in court.
Airlines for America, a trade group for the largest U.S. carriers, has opposed automatic refunds from the beginning — as it opposes almost any effort to tell airlines how to conduct their business. The trade group argued that airlines should be able to offer to put a stranded traveler on a different flight or give them frequent-flyer points — and pay a refund only if the customer rejected those offers..
Consumer groups generally favor the bill, which triples maximum fines for airlines that violate consumer protections, requires airlines to let families sit together at no extra charge, and requires that airline travel vouchers be good for at least five years. It also would write into law another new rule from the Transportation Department, which defines a significant delay — one that could lead to a refund — as three hours for domestic flights and six for international flights.
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