Airline Refunds and Other Consumer Protections

Under the U.S. Department of Transportation's (Department or DOT) refund regulations in 14 CFR parts 260 and 399, a flight that is given a different flight number than was assigned when the consumer purchased the ticket is considered a new flight and the original flight is considered a cancelled flight for which the consumer is eligible for a refund. This document announces that the Department is exercising its discretion to not enforce the requirements in 14 CFR 260.6, 260.9 and 14 CFR 399.80(l) regarding refunds and other consumer protections for a cancelled flight when a flight is renumbered so long as the passenger is rebooked on the flight under the new number and the flight is operated without any "significant change or delay" as defined in 14 CFR 260.2 and 14 CFR 399.80(l). The Department is taking this interim step of pausing enforcement of its refund requirements under these specific limited circumstances while it engages in a new rulemaking to consider whether to modify the definition of cancelled flight through rulemaking.