Secretary Buttigieg delivers remarks alongside President Biden on Airline Consumer Protection

Afternoon! 

I want to begin by thanking President Biden for his leadership. And thanks to all of you for joining us today. Every day, more than a million Americans step aboard an airplane. Some people are setting out on the trip of a lifetime; others are wrapping up a weekly commute. We depend on airlines to get us to weddings, vacations, and job interviews that often wind up being some of the most important and memorable events in our lives. And our economy depends on these airlines doing a good job. 

When you board a flight, whether you are up before dawn, coffee in hand, ready to go to a conference, or up past everyone’s bedtime wrangling toddlers like Chasten and I were the other night, you count on that airline to provide the service that you paid for. We’re here today to share the latest steps that we are taking to ensure that airlines do just that. 
It’s important to note here that just over two years ago, when President Biden took office in the depths of the pandemic, the biggest concern around our nation’s airlines was whether they would stay in business at all—and if they did, how many years or even decades it would take for them to recover.  

But President Biden acted to restore this economy swiftly, and demand came back faster than most forecasters thought was even possible. And we know some US airlines have struggled to meet that demand.  

Now, weather remains the top cause of airline delays. But staffing, and other issues under airline’s responsibilities, meant that last summer we saw unacceptable rates of delays and cancellations even on blue sky days. And when extreme weather events collided with airlines that were unprepared, the problems multiplied—as more than two million Americans experienced with the failures at Southwest Airlines over the last Christmas holiday. 
The good news is, we are seeing real improvements. Each month so far this year, preliminary data show cancellation rates under 2%, even during that busy spring break season.  

But summer travel is going to put enormous pressure on the system, and we need to continue our work. We are always prepared to work collaboratively with airlines when there are steps that we can take as a department that would help.  

In New York, we’ve taken steps that would allow airlines to use larger planes with more seats, at lower frequencies—which means that they can move more passengers overall, but with less congestion.  

In Florida, where the closure of airspace to accommodate commercial space launches now actually happens often enough to noticeably affect airline schedules, we are engaging the space sector to keep more launch windows clear of peak flight periods. And across the country, we’re hiring more air traffic controllers to keep up with growing demand. 

In fact, the latest application window is closing today, so I’m encouraging anyone who’s interested to consider applying. And FAA recently used new technology to clear over a hundred new, more efficient flight routes that will save time and money.  

The FAA and Department of Transportation are doing our part, but airlines need to accept their fundamental responsibility to better serve passengers. When they don’t, we are here to enforce passenger rights and hold airlines accountable.  

In just over two years, this administration has delivered some of the most significant gains in airline passenger protections in decades. We have stepped up enforcement, rules, and transparency. We’ve empowered passengers with better information. We’ve helped get a billion dollars in refunds and counting back to passengers, and we have secured enforceable commitments around customer service that didn’t exist just a year ago. And another major step is coming, as you’ll hear in just a moment from the President.  
All of this is possible because President Biden is leading an administration relentlessly focused on making everyday life better for Americans. Just as the Biden-Harris administration is delivering historic investments to improve physical infrastructure—everywhere from airport terminals to crosswalks—we’re also acting to ensure Americans have a better experience with our transportation systems wherever they go and however they get there. 

It is an honor to serve in an administration that always puts consumers and workers first. And now, it is my great honor to introduce the President of the United States, President Joe Biden. 

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