Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launches a civility marketing campaign, ‘Gown Higher, Act Higher, Fly Higher,’ urging air vacationers to decorate with respect and observe courtesy.
The Division of Transportation (DOT) introduced Friday it’s briefly pausing refund obligations when airways change flight numbers, easing a rule that treats renumbered flights as cancellations warranting passenger refunds.
Rules put in place by the Biden administration in 2024 famous flights given a special quantity than the one assigned when a shopper bought a ticket are thought-about new flights, with the unique thought-about canceled and refund eligible.
The DOT stated, efficient instantly, it is not going to implement the necessities concerning refunds when a flight is renumbered as long as the passenger is rebooked on the flight below the brand new quantity and the flight is operated with none “important change or delay.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has not but weighed in on the pause, which went into impact Dec. 5. (Reuters/Anna Rose Layden / Reuters Photographs)
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The announcement comes after an April evaluate that sought to restrict the burden on airways for operational or industrial adjustments that don’t severely have an effect on passengers.
The DOT additionally obtained a request for enforcement discretion from two U.S. carriers after their merger. In that request, the carriers described the necessity to renumber tens of hundreds of flights for operational integration and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) compliance.
The DOT decided passengers weren’t harmed by the renumbering and granted the request.

The pause will take impact because the DOT decides whether or not it needs to roll again Biden-era rules. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
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Just lately, officers stated the division obtained phrase from one other U.S. airline advocating for a revision to the present definition of a canceled flight as established by the prior administration, arguing the definition is just not required by statute, doesn’t mirror the realities of airline operations and is “overly broad.”
Enforcement can be paused till June 30, pending a call on whether or not to maneuver ahead with a ultimate rule to vary the definition of a canceled flight, based on the DOT.

It’s unclear which airways made the requests that spurred the evaluate. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj / Reuters)
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“The Division is taking this interim step of pausing enforcement of its refund necessities below these particular restricted circumstances whereas it engages in a brand new rule-making to contemplate whether or not to switch the definition of canceled flight by rule-making,” officers wrote in a doc revealed Friday within the Federal Register.
A ultimate determination is predicted in February, permitting for a remark interval for stakeholders to submit their enter.
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The DOT didn’t instantly reply to FOX Enterprise’ request for remark.
