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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10517 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10517
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide refunds for cancelled
or significantly delayed or changed flights, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 21, 2026
Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide refunds for cancelled
or significantly delayed or changed flights, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Fees Act''.
SEC. 2. REFUNDS FOR CANCELLED OR SIGNIFICANTLY DELAYED OR CHANGED
FLIGHTS.
(a) In General.--Section 42305 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 42305. Cash refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed or
changed flights
``(a) Significant Flight Delays, Changes, or Cancellations by the
Carrier.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of a passenger who holds a
ticket on a scheduled flight to, from, or within the United
States, an air carrier or a foreign air carrier shall, upon
request as set forth in paragraph (3), provide a full cash
refund, including any taxes and ancillary fees, for the fare
such carrier collected for any flight cancelled by the carrier
or any significantly delayed or changed flight where the
passenger chooses not to--
``(A) fly on the significantly delayed or changed
flight or accept rebooking on an alternative flight; or
``(B) accept any voucher, credit, or other form of
compensation offered by the air carrier or foreign air
carrier pursuant to subsection (c).
``(2) Timing of refund.--Any refund required under
paragraph (1) shall be issued by the air carrier or foreign air
carrier--
``(A) in the case of a ticket purchased with a
credit card, not later than 7 business days after the
earliest date the refund was requested as set forth in
paragraph (3); or
``(B) in the case of a ticket purchased with cash
or another form of payment, not later than 20 days
after the earliest date the refund was requested as set
forth in paragraph (3).
``(3) Request of refund.--An air carrier and a foreign air
carrier shall consider a passenger to have requested a refund
if--
``(A) a flight is cancelled and a passenger is not
offered an alternative flight or any voucher, credit,
or other form of compensation by the air carrier or
foreign air carrier pursuant to subsection (c);
``(B) a passenger rejects the significantly delayed
or changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight,
or any voucher, credit, or other form of compensation
offered by the air carrier or foreign air carrier
pursuant to subsection (c); or
``(C) a passenger does not respond to an offer of--
``(i) a significantly delayed or changed
flight or an alternative flight and the flight
departs without the passenger; or
``(ii) a voucher, credit, or other form of
compensation by the date on which the cancelled
flight was scheduled to depart or the date that
the significantly delayed or changed flight
departs.
``(4) Application to ticket agents.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall
issue a final rule to apply the requirements specified
in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (5) and subsection (c)
to ticket agents.
``(B) Transfer of funds.--The Secretary shall issue
regulations requiring air carriers and foreign air
carriers to promptly transfer funds to a ticket agent
if--
``(i) the Secretary has determined that the
ticket agent is responsible for providing the
refund; and
``(ii) the ticket agent does not possess
the funds of the passenger.
``(5) Refund notification.--Each air carrier, foreign air
carrier, or ticket agent shall update their passenger
notification systems to ensure passengers owed a refund under
this subsection are notified of their right to receive a
refund.
``(b) Passenger Flight Cancellation.--
``(1) In general.--In the event that a passenger cancels a
ticket for a flight not later than 48 hours prior to the
scheduled departure of the flight, the covered carrier or
ticket agent who sold such ticket to such passenger shall--
``(A) offer to the passenger a full cash refund for
such ticket, including any taxes and ancillary fees
paid; and
``(B) provide such refund not later than 30 days
after the date on which the passenger makes such
cancellation.
``(2) Required disclosure.--Prior to the sale of a ticket
for a flight to a passenger, a covered carrier or ticket agent
shall disclose to the passenger, in writing, that the passenger
has a right to cancel their ticket in accordance with paragraph
(1) and receive a full cash refund.
``(c) Alternative to Refund.--An air carrier or a foreign air
carrier described in subsection (a) or a covered carrier or ticket
agent described in subsection (b) may offer a voucher, credit, or other
form of compensation as an explicit alternative to providing a refund
required by subsection (a) or (b), but only if--
``(1) the offer includes a clear and conspicuous notice
of--
``(A) the terms of the offer; and
``(B) the passenger's right to reject the offer and
elect to receive a full cash refund in accordance with
the requirements of this section; and
``(2) the voucher, credit, or other form of compensation
offered as an alternative to providing a full cash refund is
redeemable by the passenger at any time and without any
expiration or use by date.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Air carrier, foreign air carrier, ticket agent, and
united states.--The terms `air carrier', `foreign air carrier',
`ticket agent', and `United States' have the meanings given
those terms in section 40102.
``(2) Covered carrier.--
``(A) In general.--The term `covered carrier'
means--
``(i) any passenger air carrier that had an
operating revenue in the previous year that
exceeded $1,500,000,000 according to the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics; or
``(ii) any passenger foreign air carrier
operating a flight to or from the United
States.
``(B) Inflation adjustment beginning in 2028.--For
purposes of applying this paragraph in a year
(beginning in 2028), the dollar amount specified in
subparagraph (A)(i) shall be increased by the
percentage increase (if any) in the consumer price
index for all urban consumers (U.S. city average) over
the previous year.
``(3) Significantly delayed or changed flight defined.--The
term `significantly delayed or changed flight' includes, at a
minimum, a flight where the passenger arrives at a destination
airport--
``(A) in the case of a domestic flight, 3 or more
hours after the original scheduled arrival time; and
``(B) in the case of an international flight, 6 or
more hours after the original scheduled arrival time.
``(e) Penalties.--Each violation by an air carrier, foreign air
carrier, covered carrier, or ticket agent of the requirements
applicable to such carrier or ticket agent under this section shall be
subject to a civil penalty under section 46301(a).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 423 of title 49,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 42305. Cash refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed or
changed flights.''.
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