David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed late on Tuesday to revise language in an aviation reform bill to ensure quick refunds for airline passengers whose flights are canceled and who do not seek alternative flights.
On April 24, the U.S. Department of Transportation finalized new rules that later this year will require automatic refunds for canceled flights if passengers decide not to take the new flight.
A bipartisan proposal in Congress released last week that would require passengers to seek refunds has raised concerns that the law could undermine a rule that ensures people who buy non-refundable tickets get refunds for canceled flights.
But under the revised language, first reported by Reuters and unveiled on Tuesday, refunds would be automatic in many cases. Automatic refunds will not apply if passengers have rebooked and accepted a new flight.
Senators hope the revised bill will win approval before Friday’s deadline to renew the Federal Aviation Administration’s authority for five years.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who negotiated the revised language, said: “Statutory refund rights are a big win for consumers in this bill. Passengers can cancel vouchers or alternative flights and receive a refund without any hassle.” “
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey called the refund bill “a victory for airline consumers everywhere.”
A spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz, the panel’s top Republican, said he and Cantwell agreed to add “a clarifying clause reaffirming consumers’ right to get a refund if they choose.”
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Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley proposed an amendment that would make refunds automatic and “eliminate burdensome corporate processes put in place to maximize airline profits.” The new provision is similar to what Warren and Hawley sought.
Neither the rule nor the legislation provides for compensation for delays, as required by some long waits in the European Union. President Joe Biden said last May that the Transportation Department would propose new rules requiring airlines to compensate passengers in cash for significant, controlled flight delays or cancellations.
The nearly 1,100-page, $105 billion bill would also increase air traffic controller staffing and increase funding to prevent runway hazard incidents. But it does not include a House-passed provision to raise the retirement age for airline pilots from 65 to 67.
The bill would ban airlines from charging for families to stay together, add five daily round-trip flights at busy Washington National Airport and require airlines to accept vouchers and credits for at least five years.
The bill also requires aircraft to be equipped with 25-hour recording devices in the cockpit and directs the FAA to implement advanced ground coverage technology at airports to help prevent collisions.