New Airline Bill Mandates $200-$500 Payouts for Delays Over 3 Hours

The “Enhancing Transparency from Airlines Act of 2025,” or the ETA Act, is stepping in to make sure that when your flight goes sideways, you get more than just an apology. This bill officially locks down two existing Department of Transportation (DOT) rules concerning refunds and fee transparency, making them permanent law. More importantly, it requires the DOT to create new regulations that force airlines to pay passengers between $200 and $500 if their flight is significantly delayed, depending on the length of the delay.

The New Bottom Line: Cash for Delays

This is the part that hits your wallet. Currently, airlines offer compensation on a voluntary basis, and it’s often in the form of travel vouchers. The ETA Act changes that dynamic completely by making financial compensation mandatory for specific delay thresholds. If you’re on a domestic flight and arrive at your final destination three or more hours late, the airline owes you money. If you’re on an international flight, that threshold is set at six or more hours late.

Think about the last time a three-hour delay wrecked your plans—missing a connecting flight, losing a day of vacation, or showing up late for a critical meeting. Under this bill, that frustration now comes with a mandatory minimum payout of $200, topping out at $500. For the average traveler, this is a significant step toward holding carriers accountable for their scheduling failures. It shifts the cost of a delay, at least partially, back to the airline and away from the passenger who has to deal with the fallout.

Codifying Consumer Protection

Beyond the new compensation rules, this bill takes two existing DOT final rules and writes them directly into law. First is the rule on Refunds and Other Consumer Protections (from April 2024), which clarifies when you are owed a refund and makes it easier to get it. Second is the rule on Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees (also from April 2024), which aims to make those annoying fees for baggage, seat selection, and changes visible upfront. By codifying these rules, the ETA Act makes it much harder for future administrations to quietly roll back these important consumer safeguards.

The Catch: Details Still Pending

While the $200–$500 range is set, the bill leaves the exact formula for determining where you land within that range up to the DOT in future rulemaking. The DOT will have to figure out how to scale the compensation based on the delay duration. This is an area to watch: if the rules are written poorly, an airline might pay the minimum $200 for a five-hour domestic delay, which might feel insufficient. Similarly, airlines will be scrutinizing the definitions of 'arrival at destination' and 'significant delay' to minimize payouts. For airlines, this means a new, substantial financial liability, which will likely lead to increased pressure to improve on-time performance—or potentially higher ticket prices to offset the risk of mandatory payouts. Ultimately, the success of this provision hinges on the detailed rules the DOT creates next.