(Yahoo!Finance) - President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are pushing for airline passengers to be compensated if they're stranded for reasons other than the weather, the latest effort from the White House to force changes to the flying experience in the face of widespread customer dissatisfaction.
Many airlines already offer refunds, hotel rooms, and meals, but federal officials want the carriers to go further. Biden and Buttigieg unveiled a new push Monday that airlines provide customers with vouchers, miles or even cash when flights get canceled or significantly delayed by something within a carrier's control, like a mechanical issue.
“When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. He adds that this is the first time in U.S. history that such a far-reaching rule has been proposed.
The proposed rules are far from a certainty, with the Department of Transportation rule-making process often taking months or years to play out. In the weeks to come, the Biden administration promises more details, including a more precise definition of what constitutes a “controllable cancellation and delay.”
Biden and Buttigieg will also further discuss the proposed rules at 1:45 pm ET at the White House.
A new public pressure campaign
In addition to the new proposed rules, the Biden administration also announced Monday that it would be expanding a public pressure campaign on the airlines through its online tracker at FlightRights.gov. That tracker was set up last year to highlight which airlines were offering various amenities voluntarily.
On the issue of cancellation, the tracker currently shows that many airlines offer services like rebooking or hotel rooms when certain flights are canceled or delayed but no major airline offers cash compensation - the farthest reaching idea announced Monday.
Alaska (ALK) and JetBlue (JBLU) do offer things like travel vouchers or frequent flyer miles in the event of a controllable cancellation, according to the dashboard, while others do not.
A White House official noted Sunday in advance of the announcement that policies mandating additional compensation already exist in places like Canada and the European Union, arguing that having the rules in place can lead to decreased flight delays overall.
A White House focus on ‘the passenger experience’
Monday’s move is the latest from a White House that has elevated airline comfort to a key issue. It even warranted a mention in Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this year.
Additional moves in recent months include $1 billion for upgrading America’s airport terminals, an effort to prod airlines to ensure parents and children can sit together, and the release of a new bill of rights for disabled flyers.
The actions add up, Buttigieg told Yahoo Finance last year, to changes that are “going to make a big difference for the passenger experience.”
A wave of cancellations during last year’s busy Memorial Day and the July Fourth travel weekends highlighted the issue of delays. Then the meltdown at Southwest Airlines (LUV) last winter further put a focus on how poor planning by airlines can lead to widespread inconveniences for travelers.
Airlines are reportedly staffing up ahead of this summer’s travel season, but the season is expected to put airlines to the test as the industry continues to grapple with things like an ongoing pilot shortage. Delta (DAL) CEO Ed Bastian recently told Yahoo Finance “The outlook for summer is strong.”
While the proposed rules have little chance of being approved by the summer season, the administration is clearly hoping to use public pressure and the threat of these new rules to prod airlines voluntarily avoid a repeat of recent incidents.
By Ben Werschkul · Washington Correspondent
