New airline rules will make it easier to get refunds for canceled flights. Here's what to know.
CBSN
New consumer protection rules will soon entitle airline passengers to automatic refunds when flights are canceled or significantly delayed, while also requiring airlines to reveal junk fees upfront.
In total, the new rules could save travelers $500 million annually, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday, describing the regulations as "the biggest expansion of passenger rights in the department's history."
The new rules take aim at some of the most common complaints against airlines, such as delays and difficulties getting refunds. Airlines will also have to disclose all possible fees, such as added costs for seat selection, when advertising a fare.
More than 2 million federal employees face a looming deadline: By midnight on Thursday, they must decide whether to accept a "deferred resignation" offer from the Trump administration. If workers accept, according to a White House plan, they would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for duty. But if they opt to keep their jobs, they could get fired.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.