Consumer groups push Congress to uphold automatic refunds for airline passengers

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Consumer groups are pushing Congress to uphold automatic refunds for airline passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed for several hours.

Just last week, the Transportation Department announced a rule requiring airlines to pay quick and automatic refunds. President Joe Biden touted the rule, posting on X this week, “It’s time airline passengers got the cash refunds they’re owed, without having to jump through hoops.”

But eight words in a 1,069-page bill that the Senate began debating Wednesday would keep the burden for refunds on consumers. The bill says airlines must pay refunds only “upon written or electronic request of the passenger.”

Consumer advocates say travelers will lose money without automatic refunds.

“How many average air travelers know what the (refund) rules are? How many of them know how to go about filing a claim?” said William McGee, a consumer advocate at the American Economic Liberties Project, a group skeptical of large corporations, including airlines. “The percentages are so low that the airlines sit on a tremendous amount of money that is never refunded because nobody asks.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the bill’s wording around refunds “would be a gift to the airlines, who know many travelers won’t have the time or resources to navigate the bureaucratic process they designed.”