What The Hell America!

The Trump administration just paused an initiative to get airline passengers higher compensation when carriers lose their luggage or overbook them for a flight.

In a regulatory filing submitted today, administration officials announced they would delay enforcement of the Joe Biden–era rule protecting passengers, named “Denied Boarding Compensation and Domestic Baggage Liability Limits,” until March. Though the delay is just for a month, the announcement directly cites the president’s (likely illegal) unilateral funding freeze — and notes Trump officials are now reviewing whether the rule will ever be implemented.

The Department of Transportation under Pete Buttigieg finalized the now-paused rule back in October 2024, increasing the compensation that victims of overbooking or luggage damage are legally entitled to. Under the new rule, passengers would get up to $600 more for overbooking-related cancellations and up to $900 more for mishandled luggage.

This ruling was part of the Biden administration’s larger push to empower commercial passengers when airlines leave them in the lurch — including by forcing carriers to automatically issue refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights.

This move by the Trump administration comes a week after airline lobbyists asked the president to abandon an ongoing review of whether mistreated passengers are being compensated fairly. Airlines for America, a commercial trade group representing airlines like Delta, American, and United — all of whom Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has lobbied on behalf of — pressed Donald Trump to cancel the review of cash compensation standards for delayed flights and not-so-subtly threatened to punish customers with higher ticket prices.

“Airlines do not need further incentive to provide quality service,” said the group.