Buttigieg Defends New Airline Rules After CEOs Make Critical Comments

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The transportation secretary replied to comments from the heads of two major carriers expressing hope for less regulatory oversight in the future.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said airline chiefs should use more energy worrying about their passengers than their regulators.

During a Nov. 21 news conference, Buttigieg—in an apparent response to Delta Air Lines Inc. CEO Ed Bastian—said he could not speculate on whether the next administration will be “less passenger friendly and more corporation friendly” than President Joe Biden’s administration.

On Nov. 20, Bastian, the head of one of the country’s largest passenger carriers, told reporters in Atlanta ahead of his company’s investor day presentation that he hoped President-elect Donald Trump’s administration would “take a fresh look at the regulatory environment, the bureaucracy that exists in government, the level of overreach that we have seen over the last four years within our industry.”

“I think that will be a breath of fresh air,” Bastian said.

Bastian’s comments followed similar remarks made by Southwest Airlines Co. CEO Robert Jordan earlier in November. At a speech in Dallas, Jordan said the prevailing notion is that “the new administration could be a little more business-friendly” and “maybe a little less aggressive in terms of regulating or rule-making.”

Buttigieg defended the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) policy changes under his leadership as popular with the traveling public. The one-time Democratic Party presidential candidate was appointed Secretary of Transportation in February 2021.

In April 2024, the Department of Transportation published new final rules in the Federal Register requiring the nation’s airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for delayed fights and greater disclosure of baggage fees and cancellation fees. The new regulations said airlines must begin offering refunds if a domestic flight is delayed for more than three hours and if an international flight is delayed by more than six hours.

Previously, airlines could decide how long a delay could occur before offering a travel credit or a ticket on another flight.

On Thursday, Buttigieg said those new rules “enjoy broad bipartisan support” among American travelers.

“The things we’ve done to make it easier to be an airline passenger in America … will stand the test of time,” Buttigieg said.

The transportation secretary went on to say that both Delta and Southwest either came under investigation by the DOT or received enforcement actions.

“The enforcement action that we took with regard to Southwest is one that did right by passengers and, I think, sent an important message in the industry. Likewise with Delta,” Buttigieg said.

He said Delta is currently under investigation because the DOT was “bombarded” with complaints about the airline.

Representatives of Delta and Southwest did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

On Nov. 18, Trump announced he was nominating former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy to serve as his secretary of transportation. Duffy is currently a host on Fox Business.

Trump’s message on the nomination did not mention airlines specifically but did say Duffy would “make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.”

At its investor day, Bastian said that Delta is the most on-time airline, with more than 70 percent of its flights staying on schedule. He also said the airline expects to generate between $3 billion and $5 billion in free cash flow annually over the next three to five years.

According to its most recent earnings report, issued on Oct. 10, Delta generated a net income of $2.614 billion over the first nine months of 2024. That is an increase over the $2.572 billion in net income the airline collected in the first nine months of 2023.

Southwest reported $204 million in net income for the first nine months of 2024, a sharp drop from the $717 million it reported for the same span in 2023.