in effect
This is a “notification of enforcement discretion” from the U.S. Department of Transportation — not a new regulation, but an announcement that the agency will hold off on enforcing part of an existing rule. It extends a pause the Department first announced on December 5, 2025, while it finishes a separate, still-pending rulemaking about how a “flight cancellation” should be defined.
Under DOT’s 2024 refund rule, a flight given a different flight number than the one active when the ticket was bought counts as a “cancelled flight,” which triggers a prompt refund and required notifications to the passenger. DOT is choosing not to enforce that refund-and-notification requirement when a flight is merely renumbered, as long as the passenger is rebooked on the new-numbered flight and it operates without a “significant change or delay.” A significant change is defined as departure or arrival times moving by three or more hours domestically, a change in departure or arrival airport, or a downgrade in class of service — if any of those happen, the standard refund rules still fully apply. This pause takes effect July 7, 2026 and runs for one year, expiring July 7, 2027 (the prior version had been set to run until June 30, 2026).
Airline passengers on flights that are renumbered feel this directly: they will not automatically be owed a refund or the related notifications for the renumbering alone, unless a significant delay or disruption also occurs. Airlines are affected too, as the Department says the pause spares them operational and technical burdens tied to routine renumbering (such as switching between mainline and regional service). The notice states it does not change other protections, including free rebooking when a smaller aircraft can no longer accommodate a wheelchair or scooter, and how carriers report on-time performance data.