The Trump administration quietly withdrew a rule proposed under former President Joe Biden that would have required airlines to pay passengers up to $775 in cash compensation for significant flight disruptions.
The rule, which was never formalized, would have created passenger protections similar to those available to travelers in Europe, which hold airlines accountable when they fail to adhere to their posted schedules.
Airlines are still required to refund passengers for canceled or some significantly delayed flights, but no longer face the prospect of being forced to pay additional compensation for passenger disruptions.
The Department of Transportation said that the move is part of its deregulatory initiative and insists that it will ultimately be in the best interest of travelers, partly because it claims that the compensation rule could have led airlines to raise ticket prices.
The change, DOT said in a statement, will "allow airlines to compete on the services and compensation that they provide to passengers rather than imposing new minimum requirements for these services and compensation through regulation, which would impose significant costs on airlines."
