{"abstract":"Under the U.S. Department of Transportation's (Department or DOT) refund regulations in 14 CFR parts 260 and 399, a flight that is given a different flight number than was assigned when the consumer purchased the ticket is considered a new flight and the original flight is considered a cancelled flight for which the consumer is eligible for a refund. This document announces that the Department is exercising its discretion to not enforce the requirements in 14 CFR 260.6, 260.9 and 14 CFR 399.80(l) regarding refunds and other consumer protections for a cancelled flight when a flight is renumbered so long as the passenger is rebooked on the flight under the new number and the flight is operated without any \"significant change or delay\" as defined in 14 CFR 260.2 and 14 CFR 399.80(l). The Department is taking this interim step of pausing enforcement of its refund requirements under these specific limited circumstances while it engages in a new rulemaking to consider whether to modify the definition of cancelled flight through rulemaking.","action":"Notification of enforcement discretion.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION","name":"Transportation Department","id":492,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/transportation-department","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/492","parent_id":null,"slug":"transportation-department"},{"raw_name":"Office of the Secretary"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2025/12/05/2025-22140.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":260,"title":14},{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":399,"title":14}],"citation":"90 FR 55999","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":null,"correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"As of December 5, 2025, the Department is pausing until June 30, 2026 the enforcement of airline refunds requirements regarding cancelled flights under 14 CFR parts 260 and 399 for flights that are operated under a different flight number than was held out to consumers at the time of ticket purchases so long as the flights impose no significant change or delay to consumers' itineraries.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["Docket No. DOT-OST-2022-0089, DOT-OST-2025-2285"],"dockets":[{"supporting_documents":[],"agency_name":"DOT","documents":[{"comment_count":0,"comment_start_date":"2025-12-05","updated_at":"2025-12-05T10:56:28.507-05:00","comment_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/DOT-OST-2022-0089-5351","allow_late_comments":false,"id":"DOT-OST-2022-0089-5351","comment_end_date":null,"regulations_dot_gov_open_for_comment":false}],"supporting_documents_count":0,"id":"DOT-OST-2022-0089","title":"Airline Ticket Refunds and Consumer Protections"},{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"Letter from DOT to Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines dated March 24, 2025","document_id":"DOT-OST-2025-2285-0002"},{"title":"Letter from American Airlines to DOT dated November 17, 2025","document_id":"DOT-OST-2025-2285-0001"}],"agency_name":"DOT","documents":[{"comment_count":0,"comment_start_date":"2025-12-05","updated_at":"2025-12-05T10:56:28.164-05:00","comment_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/DOT-OST-2025-2285-0003","allow_late_comments":false,"id":"DOT-OST-2025-2285-0003","comment_end_date":null,"regulations_dot_gov_open_for_comment":false}],"supporting_documents_count":2,"id":"DOT-OST-2025-2285","title":"Airline Refunds and Other Consumer Protections III"}],"document_number":"2025-22140","effective_on":null,"end_page":56000,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"explanation":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2025/12/05/2025-22140.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/05/2025-22140/airline-refunds-and-other-consumer-protections","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2025-22140?publication_date=2025-12-05","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2025-12-05/2025-22140/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":2,"page_views":{"count":2074,"last_updated":"2026-04-10 06:15:04 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-05/pdf/2025-22140.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-22140.pdf?1764855938","publication_date":"2025-12-05","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2025/12/05/2025-22140.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{"2105-AF04":{"issue":"202310","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/2105-AF04/refunding-airline-tickets-ancillary-service-fees","title":"Refunding Airline Tickets Ancillary Service Fees","xml_url":"http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202310&RIN=2105-AF04&operation=OPERATION_EXPORT_XML","priority_category":"Other Significant"},"2105-AF36":{"issue":"202504","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/2105-AF36/airline-refunds-and-other-consumer-protections-iii-","title":"Airline Refunds and Other Consumer Protections III  ","xml_url":"http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202504&RIN=2105-AF36&operation=OPERATION_EXPORT_XML","priority_category":"Other Significant"}},"regulation_id_numbers":["2105-AF04","2105-AF36"],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"supporting_documents":[],"regulatory_plan":{"html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/2105-AF04/refunding-airline-tickets-ancillary-service-fees","title":"Refunding Airline Tickets Ancillary Service Fees"},"comments_count":0,"agency_id":"DOT","comments_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=50&so=DESC&sb=postedDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=DOT-OST-2022-0089","supporting_documents_count":0,"docket_id":"DOT-OST-2022-0089","document_id":"DOT-OST-2022-0089-5351","regulation_id_number":"2105-AF04","title":"Airline Ticket Refunds and Consumer Protections","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2025-12-06T19:55:03Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":true,"signing_date":null,"start_page":55999,"subtype":null,"title":"Airline Refunds and Other Consumer Protections","toc_doc":"Airline Refunds and Other Consumer Protections","toc_subject":null,"topics":[],"type":"Rule","volume":90}