The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC) opened a two-day public meeting in Washington on September 22 to hammer out the final template for the one-page “Know Your Rights” document that every U.S. and foreign airline must soon present to passengers. The requirement, born of Section 429 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act and strengthened in the 2024 reauthorization, forces carriers to spell out—in plain language—compensation and care obligations for delays, cancellations, mishandled baggage, overbooking, tarmac holds and family-seating guarantees. During opening remarks, DOT officials said the department aims to publish the final standard by year-end, giving airlines six months to comply. Consumer advocates pushed for boldface disclosure of refund rights, while industry representatives cautioned that differing international regimes could create confusion on code-share flights. The committee also reviewed progress on mandatory customer-service dashboards that rank airlines by on-time performance and family-seating fees, as well as poster requirements for airports. For corporate mobility programs, a uniform rights notice will simplify employee briefings and RFP benchmarks when negotiating preferred-carrier agreements. Duty-of-care teams should watch for the final template to update traveler training materials and ensure that travel-management-company bots can scrape refund eligibility details automatically. Small carriers that fail to comply may face DOT civil penalties, potentially limiting routing options in second-tier markets. The ACPAC meets again on September 23, after which it will forward recommendations to Secretary Pete Buttigieg for final rule-making. Stakeholders can submit written comments until October 6 via regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2024-0053.
