The Trump administration scrapped a Biden-era proposal that would have forced airlines to pay travelers up to $775 in cash for major flight disruptions within the carrier’s control.
The Transportation Department confirmed the reversal in a notice published on Monday, saying it pulled back the advance notice of proposed rule-making issued in December 2024. That proposal would have mandated cash payments for long delays and cancellations, along with guaranteed meals, hotel rooms, limited ground transportation, and other essentials for passengers delayed three hours or more.
According to the Federal Register notice, the department said rolling back the rule aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader deregulatory agenda and two executive orders directing agencies to reduce what the administration considers unnecessary or unauthorized federal mandates.
The move reversed a high-profile consumer initiative championed by former President Joe Biden and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Before leaving office, both publicly promoted the idea of cash compensation for airline-caused delays.
“You deserve to be fully compensated,” Biden said in 2023. “Your time matters. The impact on your life matters.” Buttigieg added that “passengers should not foot the bill” when airlines are at fault.
At the time, travelers largely welcomed the proposal. However, airlines warned it would add pressure to an industry already struggling with higher operating costs and ultimately lead to more expensive fares.
The Trump administration echoed many of those concerns. In withdrawing the rule, the DOT argued it exceeded the agency’s legal authority, saying the proposal “was not based on the best reading of the underlying statutory authority and must be withdrawn.”
Industry groups also praised the reversal, telling regulators the Biden proposal was “directly contrary to President Trump’s policy to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens.”
Air carriers estimated that the compensation requirements would cost them more than $5 billion annually, a cost they said would almost certainly be passed on to passengers. The department cited those numbers in its notice and questioned whether similar compensation systems in Europe have actually improved flight reliability.
Democrats pushed back forcefully ahead of the reversal. In a letter led by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), 18 Senate Democrats warned the administration that scrapping the compensation rule would “make air travel more expensive and less transparent.” They argued that airlines, not stranded families, should cover hotel, meal, and transportation costs when delays are within a carrier’s control. They called the Biden-era rule a “common-sense” protection and urged the DOT to keep it in place.
The Democratic National Committee also blasted the decision. DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer said Trump sided “with greedy corporate airlines over everyday Americans,” warning the rollback would make travel “even more outrageously expensive.”
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The department said it plans to focus on improving the National Airspace System by boosting air traffic controller staffing and modernizing air traffic technology rather than advancing what it called “burdensome and complex new regulations not supported by data.”
The withdrawal comes as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched a new nationwide civility push ahead of the holiday travel season. Dubbed “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You,” the campaign encourages travelers to bring more courtesy back to flying, as unruly passenger incidents continue to surge, with reports increasing by 400% since 2019.
