The Department of Transportation has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have required U.S. airlines to pay passengers cash for certain lengthy delays and cancellations. The agency published the withdrawal notice in the Federal Register on November 17, 2025, ending a rule first put forward in 2023 during the prior administration.
Under the 2023 proposal, carriers would have been required to provide cash payments ranging from $200 to $750 when a flight was canceled or delayed three hours or more for reasons within the airline’s control—examples cited included staffing shortfalls, mechanical problems, or computer outages. The plan also called for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses such as food, hotels, and alternate ground transportation incurred during disruptions.
Comparable passenger protections exist in other jurisdictions, notably the EU’s EC 261 framework and similar rules in other countries, which mandate payments and other assistance for significant delays or cancellations. In the United States, some airlines already offer hotels, meals, or transportation as a matter of policy, but those are voluntary and could be altered or discontinued without a federal requirement. Existing U.S. rules that guarantee an automatic cash refund when a traveler refuses a voucher or rebooking after a cancellation were not changed by the DOT’s action.
DOT officials said the compensation mandate exceeded the scope of what Congress authorized, and the agency framed the withdrawal as a decision to limit enforcement to protections explicitly required by law. Airlines and their trade group, Airlines for America, praised the move as removing an unnecessary burden on carriers.
Observers in the travel industry characterized the change as a preservation of the status quo: because the U.S. has not had an automatic delay-payment regime, passengers are unlikely to see immediate differences, and keeping the proposal off the books avoids potential fare increases tied to compliance costs. Brett Snyder, president of travel-assistance firm Cranky Concierge, noted travelers should not expect a sudden change in everyday experience because the U.S. system historically has not mandated cash payouts for delays.
The withdrawal is part of a broader regulatory shift at the DOT. Airlines for America submitted a 93-page list this year proposing rollbacks that include reversing stricter fee-disclosure requirements, undoing guidance on family seating, rescinding added assistance rules for passengers with mobility aids, and removing the agency’s airline customer-service dashboard. Critics warn that rolling back these and other measures could weaken consumer protections and leave travelers with fewer safeguards.
For now, passengers should review individual airline policies and consult the DOT’s customer-service dashboard to learn what each carrier currently offers, keeping in mind that voluntary accommodations may change in the absence of a binding federal rule.
