The Biden administration has unveiled two new rules that will be implemented in the aviation industry soon. The crackdown on so-called corporate junk fees has long been an important part of Biden’s economic plan and will be a reality for the aviation world over the coming 6 months to 2 years.
According to the new set of rules, airlines will first be required to be more transparent about extra fees. All extra fees will need to be explained “clearly, conspicuously, and accurately”, both on the website when customers are booking online and offline. Moreover, so-called “discount bait-and-switch tactics” will be eliminated, as they pretend to apply for the whole price of the flight while in reality only applying to a small portion of the price.
“Airlines should compete with one another to secure passengers’ business — not to see who can charge the most in surprise fees”, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling.”
Secondly, airlines will have to issue cash refunds automatically and no longer in response to customer requests. Those refunds will have to be payed when flights are cancelled or significantly changed (over three to six hours depending on the destination), when baggage return is significantly delayed (over twelve hours) and when customers do not receive inflight amenities, like Wi-Fi, for which they paid. The refunds should take place within seven days for a credit card refund and within twenty days for other forms of payment.
The Department of Transportation issued the new regulations this week and their implementation will take place on different timelines, ranging from 6 months to 2 years from now. Other than the two rules presented on Wednesday, the Biden administration is planning more rules: to ban extra seating fees for parents trying to sit next to their children, to make certain amenities mandatory and to expand accommodations for passengers who use wheelchairs.
