PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] · D–TN
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 2, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.10517 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Fair Fees Act would require airlines to give full cash refunds, including taxes and extra fees, for cancelled or substantially disrupted flights when passengers decline the flight or alternatives. It would also require covered airlines and ticket sellers to refund passengers who cancel at least 48 hours before departure. For that passenger cancellation right, covered airlines would include domestic passenger airlines above a revenue threshold and foreign passenger airlines flying to or from the United States. Vouchers offered instead of required refunds would have to be optional and have no expiration date.
This Act may be cited as the Fair Fees Act.
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
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
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.
the passenger's right to reject the offer and elect to receive a full cash refund
redeemable by the passenger at any time and without any expiration or use by date.
Section 2 would replace the text of 49 U.S.C. 42305. Its airline disruption refund requirement would cover scheduled flights to, from, or within the United States, including flights operated by foreign airlines. Refunds would include the fare collected, taxes, and extra fees.
Section 42305 of title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as follows
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
The proposal would count arrival delays of at least three hours for domestic flights or six hours for international flights as significant disruptions. These are minimum examples, not an exhaustive definition.
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.
For airline disruption refunds, airlines would have seven business days to refund credit card purchases and 20 days to refund purchases made with cash or other payment methods. Both deadlines would run from the earliest date the passenger is considered to have requested a 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).
A separate refund request would not always be necessary. An airline would have to treat a refund as requested when it cancels a flight without offering an alternative flight or compensation, or when a passenger rejects the disrupted flight, a replacement flight, or offered compensation.
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)
Silence could also count as a refund request. This would happen if a passenger does not respond to a flight offer and that flight leaves without them, or does not respond to a compensation offer by the cancelled flight's scheduled departure date or the disrupted flight's actual departure date.
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.
Within one year after enactment of the replacement section, the Secretary would have to issue a final rule applying the airline disruption refund requirements, deadlines, request rules, notifications, and compensation alternatives to ticket agents—businesses that sell airline tickets.
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.
The Secretary would also have to require airlines to promptly transfer money to a ticket agent when the Secretary determines that the agent must provide the refund but does not hold the passenger's money.
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.
Airlines and ticket agents would have to update their passenger notification systems so that passengers owed an airline disruption refund are told about that right.
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.
When a passenger cancels at least 48 hours before scheduled departure, the covered airline or ticket agent that sold the ticket would have to offer a full cash refund, including taxes and extra fees, and provide it within 30 days of cancellation. Before selling the ticket, the seller would have to disclose this cancellation and refund right in writing.
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.
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.
For passenger-initiated cancellations, covered domestic passenger airlines would be those with more than $1.5 billion in operating revenue in the previous year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Foreign passenger airlines operating flights to or from the United States would be covered without a stated revenue threshold. Starting in 2028, the domestic threshold would rise by any annual percentage increase in the specified consumer price index, a measure of consumer price changes.
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.
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.
Sellers could offer vouchers, credits, or other compensation instead of a required refund only with clear, prominent notice of the offer's terms and the passenger's right to reject it for cash. The alternative compensation would have to remain redeemable at any time, without an expiration or use-by date.
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.
The proposal would use existing statutory definitions for airlines, foreign airlines, ticket agents, and the United States. Each violation of an applicable requirement would be subject to a civil penalty under an existing statute; the supplied bill does not state the penalty amount.
The terms air carrier, foreign air carrier, ticket agent, and United States have the meanings given those terms in section 40102.
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).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 2, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on September 21, 2026. That snapshot does not establish later action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-02T18:18:58Z. 2026-09-21: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 2026-09-21: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not extend to other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains a revenue-based limitation that gives a subset of airlines narrower refund obligations. This classification describes differential treatment, not its justification or merits.
Domestic passenger airlines at or below the applicable operating-revenue threshold would fall outside the covered-carrier definition for the passenger-initiated cancellation refund and disclosure duties. This would limit those airlines' direct obligations for tickets they sell. The threshold starts at $1.5 billion and would increase with inflation beginning in 2028. Ticket agents would remain separately subject to the passenger cancellation provision, and the airline disruption refund provision would apply to air carriers without this revenue qualification.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 2, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI