in effect
This is a temporary enforcement discretion notice from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), meaning the agency is announcing it will not actively enforce a specific rule while it reconsiders that rule through a formal rulemaking process. It applies to airline refund regulations that currently treat any flight renumbering as a cancellation triggering a mandatory refund offer.
Under existing rules, if an airline changes a flight’s number after you bought your ticket, that original flight is legally considered “cancelled,” and the airline must offer you a refund. Starting December 5, 2025, and running through at least June 30, 2026, DOT will not penalize airlines that renumber a flight without offering a refund, provided two conditions are met: the passenger is automatically rebooked onto the same flight under its new number, and the flight operates without a “significant change or delay.” A significant change means things like a departure or arrival shifted by 3+ hours (domestic) or 6+ hours (international), a different airport, added connections, a lower class of service, or loss of accessibility features needed by a passenger with a disability. If any of those significant changes occur, the refund requirement still applies. DOT plans to issue a proposed rule in February 2026 and expects to decide on a permanent rule change by June 30, 2026.
Airlines benefit most directly — they can renumber flights for operational or merger-related reasons (such as switching between mainline and regional service) without triggering mandatory refund offers, as long as the flight itself is otherwise unchanged. Passengers traveling on renumbered flights lose the automatic right to request a refund solely because the flight number changed, though they retain full refund rights if the flight is substantively altered or if DOT’s other consumer protection rules apply.