After getting flooded during the pandemic with complaints
about airlines from consumers with non-refundable tickets, the U.S. Department
of Transportation announced this month a proposed rule that would make
significant changes to airline ticket refunds.
DOT on Aug. 22 then held a virtual public meeting of the
Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee to discuss the proposal, which
was met
with concerns from the Travel Management Coalition, composed of large U.S.
travel management companies.
BTN reached out to multiple airlines for comments and was
directed to the industry advocacy group Airlines for America, which replied
that its “member carriers comply with federal laws and regulations regarding
cash refunds.” The organization also shared that since the start of the
pandemic, U.S. airlines have issued $21 billion in cash refunds, including
$12.84 billion in 2020 and $8.18 billion in 2021, compared with $7.46 billion
in 2019.
In addition to the meeting, the proposal was entered into
the Federal Register on Aug. 22, giving the public the chance to comment for a
90-day period, which ends on Nov. 21. As of noon, Aug. 25, there were just six
formal posted comments; however, when accessed through the site
Regulations.gov, 24 comments had been uploaded, and another 558 related comments
made after DOT’s initial notification on Aug. 3 also were accessible.
Refund Proposal Details
DOT for years has required airlines and ticket agents to
refund travelers if airlines cancel or significantly change their flights,
however the terms “significant change” and “cancellation” had not been defined,
according to DOT, resulting in inconsistency among airlines and their refunds.
The proposed changes would define those terms and codify
DOT’s “interpretation that a failure to provide refunds when a carrier cancels
or significantly changes a flight to, from, or within the United States is an
unfair practice.”
The definition of a “significant change” includes changes
that affect the arrival or departure times by three hours or more for a
domestic flight and six hours or more for an international flight, changes to
the departure or arrival airport, changes that increase the number of
connections in the itinerary, and changes to the type of aircraft flown if it
causes a significant downgrade in the air travel experience or amenities
onboard the flight.
The definition of a cancelled flight would mean one that was
published in a carrier’s reservation system at the time of sale but was not
operated by the carrier, according to DOT.
In addition, the proposal would require that airlines and
ticket agents provide passengers with flight credits or vouchers that are valid
indefinitely when passengers are unable to fly for certain pandemic-related
reasons, such as government-mandated bans on travel, closed borders or
passengers advised not to travel to protect their health or the health of other
passengers. Further, airlines and ticket agents that receive “significant
government assistance related to a pandemic” would be required to issue refunds
in lieu of non-expiring travel credits or vouchers.
Comment
on the proposed refund rules.
This link will take you to the Federal Register for formal comments.
Minimum Airplane Seat Sizes
The DOT proposed refund rules were announced about a week
after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice for public comments
on minimum airplane seat sizes necessary for the safety of air passengers. Congress
had ordered the FAA to establish minimum dimensions for airplane seats in 2018,
however the agency did not comply.
The current standard for emergency evacuations is 90 seconds,
including crew members. Some passenger advocates argue that as seat sizes have
gotten smaller and average body sizes have gotten larger, it’s become a safety
and health hazard.
“Our estimate is that only 20 percent of the population can
reasonably fit in these seats now,” FlyersRights.org president Paul Hudson told
USA Today. “It’s beyond a matter of comfort, or even emergency evacuation,
there are serious health and safety issues when you’re put in cramped
conditions for hours on end.”
The FAA request, entered into the Federal Register Aug. 3, asks
for comments on seat width, seat pitch (the space between rows), seat length
and “other seat dimensions” and whether they “have or demonstrably could
adversely affect” the safety of passengers by delaying an emergency evacuation.
As of Aug. 25, people had left 11,159 formal comments. The
comment deadline for the seat size proposal is Nov. 1.
Comment
on airplane seat size.
This link will take you to the Federal Register for formal comments.