“I know some airline CEOs have expressed hope that the next administration will be less passenger-friendly and more business-friendly than this administration,” Buttigieg responded during a news conference to discuss Thanksgiving travel. “The passenger protections we have put in place rightly have broad public and bipartisan support. I just don’t come across many people who object to the idea that you should get an automatic, hassle-free refund, for example.

Buttigieg argued that strong passenger protections are good for the airline industry.

“Some of these companies have had very healthy profits, even with this new higher level of consumer protection, which demonstrates to me that these things can travel together,” he said.

This appears to be a reference to Delta, the most profitable US airline in recent years. Delta earned $2.6 billion in the first nine months of this year and $4.6 billion last year.

The airline industry has opposed many consumer protections authored by the Biden administration, even suing the Department of Transportation to roll back a rule requiring greater transparency on the fees airlines charge their passengers. Airlines are also opposing an ongoing ministerial investigation into their frequent flyer programs.

Bastian, the Delta CEO, said he expected the Department of Transportation under Trump to “take a new look at the regulatory environment, the bureaucracy that exists within government, the level of overreach that we have seen over the past four years within our industry.

Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan said last week, “We’re hoping for a DOT (Department of Transportation) that’s maybe a little less aggressive in terms of regulation or rule-making.” »

Buttigieg noted that his department won a $140 million settlement from Southwest over widespread flight cancellations in December 2022 and is conducting a similar investigation into Delta, which canceled about 7,000 flights after a technology outage in July . He suggested that airline CEOs should spend more time thinking about passengers and less about their regulator.