In a significant victory for major airlines, a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new rule aimed at curbing hidden fees in air travel.
The ultra-conservative Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order on Monday, siding with a coalition of airlines that argued the rule overstepped the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) authority and would cause irreparable harm to their businesses.
The three-judge panel’s decision grants a temporary halt to the rule that would have required airlines to disclose “junk fees,” such as those for checked and carry-on bags, as well as charges for changing or canceling reservations. This ruling follows a lawsuit filed by major airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, and Alaska Airlines, which claimed the new regulations would “lead to customer confusion and complicate the booking process.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg expressed his frustration with the ruling, accusing the airline lobby of resisting transparency that would benefit consumers.
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“We just issued a rule requiring airlines to inform you, before you buy a ticket, of fees they will charge you,” Buttigieg said in a post on X at the time. “Now, the airline lobby is suing us, saying that if you have the right to that information it will ‘confuse’ you. For once, I am speechless.”
Despite the court’s temporary injunction, the DOT emphasized that airlines can still choose to comply with the rule voluntarily.
“DOT will continue defending our rule that protects consumers from surprise fees that can unexpectedly jack up the price of air travel,” the department said. “Nothing in the Court’s decision prevents airlines from voluntarily complying with this common sense rule that simply requires them to keep their customers fully informed when buying a plane ticket.”
