Lufthansa, KLM, South African fined over unrefunded pandemic flights

The US Department of Transport has fined Lufthansa, KLM, and South African Airways for unrefunded flights during the pandemic. Under the consent orders, the three airlines are required to provide timely refunds to passengers when owed and to pay a civil penalty to the US Treasury. Lufthansa and KLM were fined $1.1 million each, while South African Airways was handed a $300,000 penalty. “When a flight is cancelled or significantly changed, you shouldn’t have to fight with the airline to get their money back—and we’re holding airlines accountable when they fail to give passengers the refunds that they’re owed,” said?US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Today’s actions further demonstrate that passenger rights remain a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration—and we are using all of our tools to improve air travel for everyone.” In addition to the more than $900 million in refunds airlines have paid back, the DOT also announced that it is assessing a total of $2.5 million in civil penalties against three airlines for extreme delays in providing refunds. A majority of the assessed fines will be collected in the form of payments to the U.S. Treasury, with the remainder credited on the basis of payments to passengers beyond the legal requirement. Last month, the DOT announced two final rules that require airlines to?provide automatic cash refunds to passengers when owed?and to?protect consumers from costly surprise airline fees. Provisions of the final rule on airline refund were fortified through the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63) that President Biden signed into law on May 16, 2024.