Originally Posted by
Mwenenzi
https://www.transportation.gov/brief...efunds-airline
People outside of USA can buy tickets that can include a USA airline. Oneworld alliance has RTW tickets that can include USA airlines, flights to USA and/or flights from USA. The requirement "
must automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request" would create chaos. If the RTW ticket auto cancel mid trip because of a 3:00hr delay would be hopeless and cause the passenger a massive increase in total trip cost.
Above your quote, the page you referenced also state
"Passengers will be entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered."
The rules did not instruct the airlines to issue refunds instead of reaccommodating the disrupted passengers.
Originally Posted by
Mwenenzi
The proposed rules are very USA domestic airline/flight centric. No consideration of how the international air travel market operates. And that many 1000's of people travelling by air in USA do not directly pay a USA airline.
Federal rule making process does not operate on a whim (at least not during the current administration). Consumer advocates and Industry players chimed in extensively about different scenarios and the DOT draft rules outlined the DOT's considerations and reasoning.
See this 272 pages doc for reference:
DOT-OST-2022-0089-5341_attachment_1.pdf