Donald Trump and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally withdrew a Biden-era plan on Friday that required airlines to compensate passengers for major flight disruptions and faulty services. Major airlines and their trade association spent more than $23.7 million on lobbying the Trump administration and Congress in the first nine months of 2025, even hiring Trump-connected lobbying firms. This is the latest example of the Trump administration siding with the wealthy and big corporations while everyday Americans struggle to make ends meet and brace for an expensive holiday season. 

In response, DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement: 

“After spending millions to lobby the federal government, it’s no surprise Donald Trump and Sean Duffy sided with greedy corporate airlines over everyday Americans. By eliminating basic consumer protections and compensation for disrupted travel, Trump and Duffy have given airlines a green light to make airline travel even more outrageously expensive. Everyday Americans are already struggling to make ends meet under Trump’s failed economy, and once again, he’s sided with billionaires and big corporations over working families.” 

ICYMI: White House Scraps Cash Payments for Delayed or Canceled Flights

[Christine Chung, 11/14/2025]

• The Trump administration is killing a Biden-era proposal that would have required airlines to pay passengers up to $775 in cash for significant travel disruptions within carriers’ control.
• The Transportation Department is officially withdrawing the cash compensation rule, which was introduced about a year ago by the Biden administration. In addition to cash compensation, the rule would have guaranteed meals, lodging, some ground transportation and other necessities for travelers delayed three hours or more.
• Airlines have long resisted the rule, emphasizing that they believed it exceeded the Transportation Department’s authority and would ultimately result in higher fares.
• Passenger rights advocates argued that the rule would ensure a base level of care for air travelers and incentivize airlines to keep flights on time. There is precedent for this type of rule; under European Union regulations, passengers can receive up to 600 euros, or nearly $700, for certain lengthy delays and cancellations.
• Last month, a group of 18 Democratic senators sent a letter to the Transportation Department urging it to keep Biden-era passenger protections in place. Cash compensation was a “common-sense proposal,” they said, adding that airlines should be on the hook for unanticipated costs incurred by travelers affected by lengthy delays and cancellations.
• On Friday, one of those senators, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, criticized the move in a statement to The New York Times, writing that the administration’s aim “is to pad the pocketbooks of the airline industry — not help consumers caught up in the chaos of air travel when their plans are upended by flight delays and cancellations.”
• The reversal of the cash compensation rule is part of a broader push to undo a large number of passenger protections enacted by the Biden administration, said William McGee, a senior fellow for aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive-leaning nonprofit. Airlines have sued the Transportation Department over rules that have already gone into effect, including one expanding the rights of disabled travelers and another requiring clearer disclosure of hidden fees.
• There’s not a regulation that they don’t either want to weaken or eliminate,” Mr. McGee said. “When something goes wrong, how are you protected?”