New protections for CT airline passengers coming soon. What to know.
Airline passengers whose flights experienced long delays will be able to claim refunds under new rules set by the Biden Administration.
The rule changes will also allow state attorneys general to investigate passenger complaints and will require extra fees to be stated clearly before tickets are purchased, changes that Attorney General William Tong said are an important step to being able to protect Connecticut travelers.
In April, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the Airline Passenger Protection Partnership, a bipartisan agreement with 18 state attorneys general to investigate airlines and ticket agents and hold them accountable when they violate aviation consumer protection laws.
“We now have an agreement where we step in the shoes of the Department of Transportation and can investigate complaints about airlines from Connecticut travelers,” Tong said. “Now when we call they cannot say, ‘Sorry, we can’t talk to you, you’re preempted.’”
The goal of the partnership is to ensure that state attorneys general and the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection are closely collaborating on complaints involving unfair or deceptive practices by airlines.
Tong also announced the creation of a new website for Connecticut fliers to file a complaint to the attorney general.
“The status quo is not going to fly anymore,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at a press conference with Tong on April 29.
Major airlines have opposed the changes, arguing that customer satisfaction is higher than it has ever been and citing the record numbers of airline passengers combined with lower fares.
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Before the rule changes, Congress enjoyed overwhelming jurisdiction over the regulation of airlines. Lawyers representing national airlines have long argued that the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was intended to constrain the ability of states to pursue airline complaints from their residents.
In addition to giving states the ability to address those complaints, the new rule also concerns refunds for missed or delayed flights. Current regulations let airlines decide how long a delay must last before triggering refunds, however the new rules have a set definition for a significant delay: three hours for any domestic flight and six hours for any international flight.
The Biden administration created specific guidelines for airlines to follow in issuing refunds as well.
Airlines must issue refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due for credit card purchases and 20 days for other methods of payment, and the refund must be in the form of cash or whatever original payment method the individual used to make the purchase. Vouchers, travel credits or other forms of compensation are not an acceptable way to refund the passenger unless they affirmatively choose it.
Finally, in addition to refunding the full price of the ticket, the airlines must refund all government taxes and fees and airline fees minus the value of any portion of transportation already used.
The last major change to the rules is the required disclosure of all fees before the purchase of a ticket.
“There’s a ton of different fees now that are not entirely clear or that are larded into the true costs of air travel,” Tong said. “Now, the United States DOT is working with us to make sure that that is disclosed to people at the outset.”
Airlines are now required to show all baggage, change and cancellation fees up front; each fee must be disclosed on the airline’s online platform during the first time that fare and schedule information is provided. They must also describe any prohibitions or restrictions on changing or canceling a flight, along with policies related to differences in fares when switching to a more or less expensive flight.
They must also share fee information with third party companies that consumers can buy tickets from, inform consumers that seats are guaranteed, and provide standard and passenger-specific fee information. Finally, airlines are prohibited from advertising a promotional discount off a low base fare that does not include all mandatory fees.
Airlines for America, a trade association representing major airlines such as Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and UPS, argued that the new rules place an undue burden on airlines and that airlines pay enough money in refunds already.
“Airlines for America member carriers abide by — and frequently exceed — DOT regulations regarding consumer protections,” the group wrote in a statement. “The 11 largest U.S. passenger airlines issued $43 billion in customer refunds, $900 million per month, between January 2020 and December 2023, in addition to issuing other forms of compensation.”
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Airlines for America also criticized the broad scope of the regulations, arguing that it will only go to hurt travelers in the long run.
“Unnecessary regulatory rules issued without collaboration will lead to three things: confusion for consumers, reduction in choice and a decline in competition, which historically drives up prices. Very simply put, a one-size-fits-all approach is anticompetitive and anticonsumer,” the group wrote.
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Tong and Blumenthal both agreed that while they thought the measures were a good step, there is more work to be done. At the federal level, Blumenthal has put forward legislation for a passenger “bill of rights.” Both Tong and Blumenthal supported a removal of federal preemption for airlines, increasing the power of states to enforce regulations.
Luke Feeney is a CT Mirror legislative reporting intern for the 2024 session. He is a senior at the University of Connecticut.