How the Trump Administration Is Eroding Airline Passengers Rights

For years, U.S.airline passengers have been gaining ground against annoyances like misleading prices, hidden fees and flight disruptions.

But now the tide appears to be turning.The Department of Transportation is aiming to water down longstanding passenger protections, pushing, for example, to change how prominently airlines display prices in advertising and to clamp down on compensation for disrupted flights.These recent steps have alarmed consumer groups and elected officials, with some saying that the proposals tilt the scales in favor of the airline industry.In addition, they say, the department is steadily taking a more hands-off approach to policing airlines, and that could end up hurting passengers.“We’re in really new territory with consumer protection regulations,” said Paul Hudson, the president of FlyersRights.org, one of the largest U.S.

advocacy groups for air travelers.“It’s shaping up to be a wholesale reversal of consumer protection for airline passengers.”When Sean Duffy was sworn in as transportation secretary in January 2025, he pledged to help usher in a “golden age” of transportation by immediately taking action to remove what he called government overreach.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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