New consumer rules will likely cost airlines USD3 billion

Only a week after the US Department of Transportation convened its Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, designed to help the airline industry, the DoT issued proposed new consumer regulations that could cost the industry USD3 billion in lost reservation and baggage fees and higher compensation for denied boarding. The proposed rules, issued yesterday included the expected increase in per-passenger compensation for involuntarily bumped passengers from USD400 to USD650 and would adjust the amounts for inflation every two years.