Airline Customer Service Commitments for Controllable Flight Disruptions: Unscheduled Maintenance in Response to FAA Airworthiness Directives

On November 28, 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) 2025-24-51 requiring airlines to replace or modify affected elevator aileron computers (ELAC) used in certain Airbus aircraft. Due to the significant impact of the EAD on the fleets of some U.S. airlines, clarity was requested from the Department's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) regarding airlines' responsibility to provide amenities such as meals and hotels for consumers affected by cancellations or significant delays due to unscheduled maintenance required to comply with the EAD. The largest U.S. airlines have generally committed to provide free rebooking, hotel, and meals to mitigate passenger inconveniences when the cause of a cancellation or significant delay was due to circumstances within the airline's control. This notice announces that as a matter of enforcement discretion, OACP will not treat cancellations or lengthy delays resulting from unscheduled maintenance in response to an airworthiness directive that cannot be deferred or must be addressed before a flight to be due to circumstances within airline control for the purposes of these types of airlines customer service commitments.