Passengers should get full refunds for canceled flights — not credits, lawmakers say
A bill proposed by Democratic senators Wednesday would force airlines to issue billions of dollars in refunds to passengers who canceled flights due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Cash Refunds for Coronavirus Cancellations Act, introduced by Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, would require all U.S. airlines, including third-party ticket sellers, to “promptly offer a full cash refund for canceled tickets” regardless of whether the passenger or the airline nixed the trip, ABC News reported.
Currently, travelers are only offered cash refunds if the company cancels the flight — not the other way around.
“I’m going to fight until we ultimately get this money back for passengers,” Markey told ABC News. “We can’t have the airlines tipping passengers upside down and shaking money out of these passengers’ pockets when they need it desperately for their own families.”
The bill, which Markey has reportedly considered tying to the next round of stimulus relief, if necessary, is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kamala Harris of California.
Under the proposed measure, refunds would be retroactive to scheduled flights dating to March 1 and would remain in effect 180 days after the nationwide public health emergency order has ended, according to MassLive.
Worldwide, air travel has dropped significantly with passengers canceling flight after flight in response to the pandemic. The nation’s four largest airlines — American, Delta, Southwest and United — have reported a combined billions of dollars in losses as a result, ABC News reported last month.
Though travel is on the decline, traveler complaints about rejected ticket refunds have skyrocketed, prompting a second warning from the U.S. Department of Transportation to airlines Tuesday about skirting the refund rules, according to USA TODAY. The department said it received over 25,000 air travel service complaints in March and April — 23,500 more than it typically receives in a month.
“The Department has received an unprecedented volume of complaints from passengers and is examining this issue closely to ensure that airlines’ policies and practices conform to DOT’s refund rules,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in a news release. “The department is asking all airlines to revisit their customer service policies and ensure they are as flexible and considerate as possible to the needs of passengers who face financial hardship during this time.”
Perturbed passengers have sued airlines, including United and Delta, after they were offered future travel credits rather than full refunds for their canceled trips. In a release, Markey and the other senators said they estimate airlines are sitting on more than $10 billion in trips that haven’t been refunded.
“Ten billion dollars is a lot of money to a lot of families,” Markey told MassLive in a recent interview. “We cannot continue to bail out big businesses while only giving out scraps to consumers.”
Only two airlines — Allegiant and Spirit — are currently refunding passengers who canceled their own tickets in response to the pandemic, according to the senators’ release.
More-profitable airlines, including Delta, have been slower to respond to refund requests, but, in a letter said it had “processed over a million refunds totaling more than $500 million” in March alone. American Airlines and United Airlines claim they are offering similar refunds to travelers.
Markey told The Hill he found it “unconscionable” that other airlines are reluctant to give customers their money back.
“Airlines already have a moral responsibility to give cash refunds for all canceled tickets during the coronavirus pandemic,” he told the outlet. “My new legislation will give them a legal responsibility, too.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Passengers should get full refunds for canceled flights — not credits, lawmakers say."