The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed relaxing rules intended to protect US flyers from consumer rights violations. It’s a move that continues the current administration’s dismantling of hardline Biden-era sanctions that were intended to deter airlines from mistreating customers and writing off the penalties as an operating overhead.
DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection has denied that its new strategy would undermine consumer rights. It said its focus going forward was to ensure “compliance with civil rights and consumer protection regulations rather than finding and penalizing entities for violations,” in line with a Trump executive order from February 2025. The latest guidance says simply: “civil penalties should be reasonable and proportional to the violation and its impacts.” Warning letters will be sent to airlines and other transportation providers ahead of any enforcement action.
Under Biden, the former DOT incumbent Pete Buttigieg had previously introduced a series of rules targeting junk fees and making air fares and fees transparent, as well as outlining how airlines should refund customers for undelivered services, compensate them after disruptions, and look after customers with additional needs or disabilities.
Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement that Biden’s administration had focused on penalties that “enriched government coffers, not civilian travelers.” A spokesperson insisted: “Protecting the American people remains our top priority, and we won’t hesitate to impose sanctions for widespread, egregious, or intentional violations as appropriate.”
But critics such as William J. McGee, Sr. Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, have pointed out that Duffy is a former lobbyist for American, Delta, and United, and has taken “a sledgehammer to the protections Biden was trying to implement.” He has rolled back a fine of $140 million against Southwest that a DOT order said was for failing to provide prompt or proper refunds, prompt flight status notifications, and adequate customer service assistance to consumers during Winter Storm Elliott two years ago, and instead given Southwest a credit of $11 million out of $24 million it had already paid to the US Treasury. Similarly, Duffy has waived an $11.9 million fine against American for violating disability rules and mishandling thousands of wheelchairs.
The new regulatory filing also follows the scrapping in November 2025 of a Biden proposal to require airlines to pay passengers cash compensation when carriers are responsible for US flight disruptions.
As a result of the rollbacks, US flyers enjoy considerably fewer consumer protections than those in the European Union. In the event of cancellation, EU airline passengers have the right to choose between reimbursement, re-routing, or return, and are also entitled to assistance at the airport. If cancellation occurs less than 14 days ahead of travel, compensation is due, unless the airline can prove extraordinary circumstances.
Similarly, flight departure delays give EU passengers rights to assistance, reimbursement, and a return flight, depending on the duration of the delay and the distance of the flight, as well as compensation for delays of over three hours. EU flyers denied boarding by the airline due to overbooking or for operational reasons are entitled to compensation, assistance, and a choice between reimbursement, re-routing, or re-booking.
Other EU rules about upgrades, downgrades, missed connections, lost, delayed, or damaged luggage, and the treatment of passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility can be found here.
