Goodbye to airline passenger rights: Why Trump’s Transportation Department is favoring corporations over consumers

Just over a year ago Congress and the Department of Transportation (DOT) passed a range of consumer protections for airline passengers. However, those are already under threat of being watered down, if not outright undone.

Earlier this month Trump’s DOT announced that it had binned a proposed Biden-era rule that would have required airlines to pay up to $775 for lengthy delays or cancellations caused by issues under the airlines’ control. According to filings from the agency, it is also looking rollback other rules established under the previous administration.

Airlines seek to turn back the clock on regulations for passenger rights

Airlines and industry groups are actively pushing to have certain rules that have been enacted rolled back. These include the following:

Christopher Elliott notes that the DOT has promised to enforce all congressional consumer protection laws but that the department’s proposed regulatory changes “reads like a wish list for turning passengers into powerless customers.”

“The airlines aren’t just asking for minor tweaks,” he said in a recent report, “if they get their way, flying could become a one-sided game where airlines hold all the cards.”

Elliott shared some of the ways that you can protect yourself in an environment where consumers’ airline rights are vanishing.

“It’s very important that the department stand up for passengers. But I gotta tell you in the Trump administration we’re seeing decision after decision that tilts in favor of corporations and against consumers,” former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “They will not do anything to protect passengers unless Congress makes them.”

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