Teresa Murray
Consumer Watchdog Director, U.S. PIRG Education Fund
[email protected]
Airline passengers can travel with more rights this year – Consumer Protection Week 2025
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Mark Morgenstein
Director of Media Relations, The Public Interest Network
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CLEVELAND – If you generally fly only during spring break or the summertime, you can enjoy several new airline passenger protections in 2025 that didn’t exist a year ago. These include:
- No-hassle refunds for canceled or “significantly” delayed flights.
- A legal definition of a “significant” delay as three hours.
- 24-hour, live customer service.
- Vast new protections for travelers who use a wheelchair or scooter, including requiring airlines to provide a rental when a wheelchair or scooter is damaged or missing.
Most of these new protections were part of an airlines bill that Congress passed in May 2024; the Department of Transportation approved the rest.
You’re likely to need some of the new protections this year: Passenger volume is expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, a 6.7% increase compared with 2024 and the first time that the number of passengers would exceed the 5 billion mark, according to the International Air Transport Association.
“There are so many new passenger protections that most of us can’t remember them all,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund. “The important thing isn’t remembering all of the details; it’s remembering that if something goes wrong, you have a lot of new rights.”
One new protection won’t take effect as soon as expected: A U.S. Court of Appeals has blocked a requirement for airlines to disclose upfront the costs for checking bags, having carry-ons and changing or canceling flights. The Department of Transportation last year approved a final rule to protect consumers from surprise fees after they’ve booked a flight.
“Clear and conspicuous” disclosure was supposed to be required by April 30, 2025, for U.S. and foreign airlines flying to, from or within the United States – before a ticket purchase, when someone views flight options or does an online search.
Most airlines used to allow two checked bags at no cost. Now, most charge extra and in a more recent change, some airlines charge for carry-on bags. It’s challenging for some travelers to figure this out, especially those who don’t fly often. People in the United States fly once every 12 to 18 months on average.
To help you compare fees, we have a new guide:
Checking bags on a flight: How much does my airline charge?
It’s also important for travelers to understand which airlines guarantee seating for children 13 or younger next to family members for free, and what all 10 major airlines have committed to doing for customers if there’s a cancellation or significant delay that’s the airline’s fault. The commitments involve whether the airline will rebook travelers with a competitor at no charge, pay for a hotel if someone is stranded overnight and provide a food voucher. A dashboard comparing the airlines lives at FlightRights.gov
Our experts can walk through what rights travelers have now, and how to best handle disruptions in our helpful guides, “New airline passenger rights explained” and “Airline travel tips you shouldn’t fly without.”