Airlines Aim to Increase Military Travel Benefits

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is urging the nation’s largest passenger airlines to enhance travel benefits for active-duty military personnel and their families.

In May, the department plans to launch a customer service dashboard that will provide comparative information on the travel benefits that airlines offer to service members and their families.

The USDOT intends to highlight airlines that commit to providing full refunds to service members and their families who need to cancel travel plans due to military directives, as well as allowances for free baggage.

While most carriers offer military personnel extra free bags and other perks like priority boarding or discounted fares, many service members are unaware of these benefits due to inconsistencies in carriers’ public-facing Customer Service Plans. Buttigieg emphasized that airlines’ travel benefits often do not fully meet the needs of service members who may have to change or cancel personal travel plans due to military orders.

Major airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines did not immediately comment on the matter and referred questions to the trade group Airlines for America, which also did not provide a comment.

Previously, the Transportation Department introduced a government dashboard that highlighted airlines’ commitments to not charge families for sitting together. By September 2022, nearly all major airlines agreed to provide passengers with meals and accommodations for lengthy delays within their control after the USDOT announced a dashboard comparing customer protections.

President Joe Biden announced in May 2023 that the USDOT is working on new rules to mandate airlines to compensate passengers with cash for significant flight delays or cancellations caused by the carriers. While a formal proposal or specific compensation amounts have not been released, the USDOT inquired in 2022 whether airlines would be willing to pay at least $100 for delays of at least three hours caused by airlines.