The transportation secretary also shared his number-one travel hack in conversation with Thrillist.
The destruction of 2023 go out some significant improvements inairline travel , which was peculiarly noteworthy give how awful the total experience has turn in late years . From theSouthwest Airlines meltdownto increasingly lofty hurdles to get flight reimbursements to an expected onslaught of delays and cancellations , by the death of 2022 plenty of people were quick to give up on flying altogether .
That ’s not to say that fly in 2023 was wholly seamless , butit was improved . And driving that point home was the spectacular decrement in vacation flight cancellations . In 2022 , 2.5 % of holiday flights were cancel , according to theDepartment of Transportation . In 2023 , that number was more than halved — only 1.2 % of vacation flights were strike down . Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the DOT are vaunt this as one of many success for the delegacy .
Other wins include the DOT ’s launch of its own rider rights fascia , which has aimed to shatter so many of the opaque policies airlines antecedently held for problems like reimbursements , rebookings , and payment for costs associate with delays and cancellations , like food and accommodations .
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And then there were the lately announced Southwest Airlines penalties . During the 2022 holiday season , errors from Southwest caused what even Buttigieg refers to as a meltdown . thou of passengers were stranded , hundreds of flights were canceled , and even more trajectory delayed . But or else of the common apathetic berm shrug from the pot creditworthy , Southwest rather was accuse $ 140 million in fines . Nearly all of the money is going to go back into rider ' pockets , according to the DOT mandate .
In a conversation with Thrillist , Buttigieg broke down the DOT ’s wins from 2023 , the continued challenges , and what airline travelers can gestate to see in 2024 . I even make do to throw out my personal hypothesis that plane seat cushions are getting thinner ( no chemical reaction there ) and posited that while cancellations and wait are improve , there are plenty of complaint about the passenger experience becoming less pleasant once you ’re on board . Buttigieg is aware of these care , and he outlined a few top - line strategies for the DOT he hopes will address them in 2024 .
He even weigh on the age - oldluggage debateof whether to check into your bag or carry it on . Read the conversation below , which has been edited and condensed for clarity .
Thrillist : How were these historically humiliated cancellation rate achieved?Pete Buttigieg : A lot of it had to do with the press that we put on airlines , especially about a year and a one-half ago , to take ripe attention of passenger when there ’s a trouble , and to make certain problems do n’t happen in the first place . That included more realistic programing . It let in step up hiring and making sure they were paying enough to lease the pilots and other flight crews that they needed .
Why were the new consumer protection policies such big priorities for 2023?Well , we wanted to make indisputable that passengers are better protected . What we found was that in add-on to produce new rule , which are very powerful but can take a while to exploit , we can also get results from the airlines using tools like transparentness . We came up with the mind of the consumer rider right hand dashboard , and in the outer space of about two week before assign it up , we saw the airline totally change their customer service insurance . That ’s what lead to a major expansion in passengers rights on things like rebooking , ground transport , meals , and hotel that an airline really should take care of if you get stuck .
We ’re not stop there . There ’s more employment to be done where that came from , but what we found is that combination of public pressure , even a little bit of naming and shame where necessary , and the formula and regulatory framework can all tot up up into a better passenger experience .
What is going to be the DOT ’s focus for 2024?One bragging energy for us right now is family seating . I always imagine this was authoritative , but even more so since starting to fly with toddlers . I reckon it ’s just a basic conception that if you ’re flying with your kids , you should n’t have to ante up supernumerary to be seated with them . Believe it or not , most airline business do not guarantee this , although we ’ve buzz off warrantee out of some of them , which you could see on our internet site . And so we ’re lick toward a formula that would require it , because again , I think this is common sense .
We ’re also working just to verify there ’s better , more transparent info about fees . That can be a big part of your ticket cost , and we want to check that it ’s very clear and transparent what the fee are , over and above your airfare , for affair like baggage , as well as making certain that you get a refund on those fees if you do n’t get what you paid for . Think Wi - Fi or a suitcase not getting there on fourth dimension . Just like if your flight ’s offset , you ought to get your airfare return , if your bag does n’t make it , you ought to get your baggage fee refunded . We ’re act upon on steps like that .
We ’re also launching a procedure on cash recompense , or some shape of compensation , for a major postponement or cancellation . This is over and above the airfare being repay to you when you get canceled . This already happens in other parts of the world . It ’s a pretty democratic insurance in Europe . And so we ’re launching the summons to depend at what that insurance policy could be like here in the US .
Everything You’re Entitled to if Your Flight Gets Canceled or Delayed
Thanks to the Department of Transportation this now includes a full, automatic refund.
Why was enforcing fines and policies against Southwest Airlines a focus for the DOT , and how do you guess it ’s going to change future behaviour from airlines in regards to situations like the 2022 holiday meltdown?So many mass got capture up in that Southwest meltdown a year ago , and we saw families run aground and vacation ruin . It was very authoritative to me and to this department that there ’d be answerability for that . We made it clear that we were going to be count over Southwest ’s shoulders as they issued all of the reimbursements and refunds that were required of them but also that it was going to have to go beyond that .
There had to be answerableness for that loser . And where we arrived was a record enforcement action . But alongside that , stool certain that most of the value of that penalty went right back to passengers . So for the next three years , Southwest will be need to offer $ 75 voucher over and above the other recompense that multitude can expect when they do have a cancellation or a delay in a way that we trust really changes the whole industry .
Do you find that enforcing these policies and invest more consumer protective cover in seat has make an adversarial relationship with airlines ? Or — and I do n’t think this is the example — have airlines been eager to make these changes?I would say it ’s mixed . Look , at an operating level we often collaborate with our airline business sitting side by side in operation inwardness to do job clear around how to make indisputable that atmospheric condition events or other event are quickly resolved . We ’re in a good dialog with them about how to optimize air traffic dominance resource and other things that just tactically are going to make a divergence .
Now , it ’s also the case that when we propose a tough new client protection rule , the airlines are loosely not going to embrace it , and I get it . They ’re implicated about their bottom line , but we ’re concerned about the rider experience . That ’s our business , as a watchdog , to ensure that the passengers are demand guardianship of .
Sometimes what you do on the enforcement side can have a outcome in the market too , though . And here again , I ’ll luff to the enforcement action against Southwest . They now have to do this extra $ 75 to compensate passenger who experience a controllable delay or cancellation . That means that they just became the industry leader in providing that kind of benefit . I ’ll be very interested to see if other airlines determine to follow suit , not because they ’re being penalise , but because they want to vie .
Overall in 2024 , what should travelers carry to see from the DOT?Well , rider will see the welfare of these additional passenger protective cover , that ’s the bountiful thing . I always urge passengers to face atflightrights.govbecause sometimes you do n’t get these benefit unless you enquire for them . And so it ’s crucial to be armed with good information and to eff that our department has your back . We ’re pass to keep push on the operable side , ensure that airlines take steps to keep cancellations low-down .
Another concern that I have is around wait , where we necessitate to make indisputable that we turn to every potential suit of postponement . The identification number - one cause of delay is weather . The reality is that , especially in the context of our changing climate , extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent . We ’ve got to be prepared for that . We ’re also looking at airwave traffic control , and hiring more air traffic accountant so that short staffing is less probable to lead to a delay .
Finally , what ’s your personal favorite travel hack?I really attempt to avoid checking bags . I think my equation is a little unlike now that there are kids tangled and car seats and that kind of thing , but anytime you’re able to forfend it , I find there ’s a somewhat adult welfare there . The biggest matter I endeavor to do is keep it simple .
