Final summer season, after Delta Air Strains supplied me solely partial reimbursement for bills incurred whereas stranded in Paris for 4 days as a result of Crowdstrike software program meltdown, I went straight to the Division of Transportation (DoT) web site to file a grievance.
For the following month, my well mannered however persistent emails asking Delta to make good on what the gate brokers in Paris had promised have been principally ignored—till I obtained a word from Delta that the DoT had directed the airline to resolve my grievance. The reimbursement supply was instantly elevated, however it nonetheless took one other month (and a menace to file a second grievance) to get a good settlement for my resort invoice and meals.
That might probably haven’t occurred had it not been for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s aggressive efforts over the previous 4 years to enhance fliers’ rights, with the DoT promising to impose hefty fines on airways that fail to observe newly applied guidelines for what vacationers are owed when flights are canceled or delayed.
Journey trade analyst Henry Harteveldt of Environment Analysis Group referred to as Buttigieg’s DoT “probably the most pro-consumer that now we have seen in a long time.”
Questions being requested by insiders as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take workplace on January 20 embody: will current protections for air vacationers stand, how aggressively will they be enforced, what’s going to turn into of a pending proposal to develop compensation for stranded vacationers, and can the brand new administration proceed to implement higher transparency round hidden journey charges?
One other concern to contemplate is what affect Trump’s promise to crack down on immigration might have on inbound vacationers and on hospitality trade employees who depend on work visas. Observers are additionally preserving an in depth watch on climate-related initiatives comparable to sustainable aviation fuels and different environmental measures that the federal government has been creating insurance policies to advertise. Listed here are a number of the key issues the journey trade is monitoring.
Airways
Harteveldt stated he doubts the brand new administration will attempt to change the just lately applied rule requiring airways to routinely reimburse passengers for canceled flights or take away the DoT’s easy-to-find, one-click hyperlink to file a grievance.
“I don’t suppose he’s going to attempt to roll issues again, however I don’t suppose we are going to see as a lot rulemaking or proposed rulemaking,” he stated.
Trade consultants say the administration might ignore the rulemaking course of for a proposal that, along with obligatory fare reimbursements for canceled flights, would require airways to additionally compensate passengers for cancellations and delays over three hours. If no motion is taken, the proposal would expire.
Additionally in query is a regulation requiring earlier, extra clear disclosure of ancillary charges through the reserving course of. Final yr, airways sued the DoT over the rule that took impact final April, and a federal appeals courtroom granted a short lived keep to dam its implementation in July, saying the DoT probably overstepped its authority.
Airways are additionally hoping that the change in administration would possibly mark the tip of an period of document fines, such because the $140 million imposed on Southwest for its December 2022 operational collapse, and the removing of regulatory obstacles that denied the JetBlue–Spirit merger and broke up the JetBlue–American Airways Northeast Alliance.
Frontier Airways CEO Barry Biffle instructed Reuters he appears ahead to an “unshackling,” the place regulators “deal with issues that matter, like security, and cease worrying about regulating costs and regulating experiences.”
Geoff Freeman, head of the U.S. Journey Affiliation, an advocacy group for U.S. inbound journey, disagreed with Harteveldt’s characterization of Buttigieg’s DoT as solely pro-consumer, saying that whereas it had imposed these document fines and fought ancillary charges, it failed to deal with some key points, comparable to upgrading the air visitors management system to cut back airline delays and serving to to enhance the usually sluggish Transportation Safety Administration screening course of.
“If it have been actually pro-consumer, it could have been trying to clear up underlying points,” he stated. As an alternative, “I believe it kicked the can down the highway.”
Immigration
One of many greatest questions for the journey trade as an entire is what affect Trump’s immigration insurance policies can have on inbound vacationers.
For example, Freeman stated the nation is getting into a “mega-decade” of sports activities occasions in the USA—together with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, being held in cities throughout Canada, Mexico, and the USA, the 2028 Summer season Olympics in Los Angeles, and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake Metropolis. If Trump rolls again efforts to unravel the long-standing backlog of foreigners attempting to get U.S. visas, it might be laborious for spectators from different nations to get right here.
He famous the present wait time for visas from some nations is 700 days, so “if you wish to come for the World Cup [final in New Jersey summer of 2026], you’ve already missed your window.” Presently, solely 43 nations take part within the U.S. visa waiver program, together with quite a few nations in Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Residents from non–visa waiver program nations should apply for a customer visa prematurely.
And all vacationers, residents and guests alike, stated Freeman, might discover longer waits to clear customs on arrival to the USA if workers and assets are shifted to lowering unlawful crossings alongside the southern border.
Motels
For the hospitality sector, one massive concern is whether or not the brand new administration will curtail work visas that so many resorts depend on, particularly for seasonal employees, stated Craig Compagnone, president of the Americas for journey advertising and marketing agency MMGY International.
Moreover, whereas the Federal Commerce Fee just lately permitted a rule requiring resorts and lodging firms to reveal resort and different obligatory charges up entrance within the reserving worth, it’s unclear whether or not the brand new administration would uphold the rule or attempt to reverse it.
Client advocates are hopeful it should stay in place as members of Congress from each side of the aisle in addition to the American Lodge and Lodging Affiliation (AHLA) have supported the efforts. Regardless, the AHLA says it should proceed to push to have these provisions enacted into federal legislation to make sure consistency throughout the hospitality sector.
“Congress acquired shut final yr with Home passage of the No Hidden Charges Act and the Senate’s Lodge Charges Transparency Act, and we are going to proceed to work on this legislative precedence,” a spokesman for the group stated.
The atmosphere
The journey trade can even be carefully watching what affect the Trump Administration and a Republican Congress can have on environmental protections, together with applications to advance using sustainable aviation gasoline and rules which have stymied infrastructure enhancements.
Harteveldt stated the brand new administration might be extra receptive to eradicating a number of the federal environmental rules that may make it harder to do issues like add new runways, which he stated are desperately wanted.
Moreover, trade analysts stated the brand new administration might again off on help and funding for extra environmentally pleasant jet gasoline choices.