Biden admin's new airline rules to require cash refunds for canceled flights, fees disclosed up front

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The Biden administration announced new rules that mandate automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights and protect consumers from surprise junk fees in air travel. 

«These rules will significantly expand consumer protections in air travel, provide passengers an easier pathway to refunds when owed, and save consumers over half a billion dollars every year in hidden and surprise junk fees,» the White House said in a statement released early Wednesday. 

«Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling,» Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. «Our new rule sets a new standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.»  

The first rule requires airlines «to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed because their flights are cancelled or significantly changed, their checked bags are significantly delayed, or the ancillary services, like Wi-Fi, they purchased are not provided.»

Newly required by the Department of Transportation (DOT), the change is supposed to prevent consumers from having to «navigate a patchwork of cumbersome processes to request and receive a refund — searching through airline websites to figure out how to make the request, filling out extra ‘digital paperwork,’ or at times waiting for hours on the phone,» the White House said. 

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American Airlines Boeing jets are seen at John F. Kennedy Airport on Jan. 8, 2024. (CHARLY