New Federal Rules on Cancellations Cause Airlines to Return $600 Million to Passengers

Six major airlines have refunded $600 million to passengers affected by canceled or significantly changed flights, and the U.S. Department of Transportation is assessing for airlines that delay paying out the refunds, federal officials said Monday.

“When a flight gets canceled, passengers seeking refunds should be paid back promptly. Whenever that doesn’t happen, we will act to hold airlines accountable on behalf of American travelers and get passengers their money back. A flight cancellation is frustrating enough, and you shouldn’t also have to haggle or wait months to get your refund,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement. 

The U.S. carrier Frontier and five other foreign carriers will pay a combined $7.25 million in civil penalties for “delaying refunds so long that they violated consumer-protection rules,” according to the department. 

Read the source article at thehill.com