I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1233 

To provide for cash refunds for canceled airline flights and tickets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 

in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for cash refunds for canceled airline flights and 

tickets. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cash Refunds for 

5 Flight Cancellations Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CASH REFUNDS FOR CANCELED AIRLINE FLIGHTS 

2 AND TICKETS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 417 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 41727. CASH REFUNDS FOR CANCELED AIRLINE 

7 FLIGHTS AND TICKETS. 

8 ‘‘(a) CASH REFUNDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara11 graph (B), a covered carrier or ticket agent who 

12 sells a ticket for a passenger to take a covered 

13 flight, and either such flight is canceled or sig14 nificantly delayed (as defined by the Secretary 

15 of Transportation) by the covered carrier or 

16 such ticket is canceled by the passenger at least 

17 48 hours before the scheduled departure of the 

18 flight, shall offer the passenger a full cash re19 fund for such ticket, including any ancillary 

20 fees paid, within 30 days of the passenger mak21 ing the request. 

22 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A covered carrier or 

23 ticket agent shall only be required to offer a 

24 cash refund under subparagraph (A) for 1 

25 flight booked by a passenger on any city-pair 

26 itinerary on any given date. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE FORM OF COMPENSATION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered carrier or 

3 ticket agent may offer an alternative form of 

4 compensation determined appropriate by the 

5 covered carrier or ticket agent, including a 

6 credit, a voucher, or other mechanism to com7 pensate a passenger, provided that any such 

8 offer includes a clear and conspicuous notice of 

9 a passenger’s right to a cash refund under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(B) NO EXPIRATION DATE.—An alter12 native form of compensation provided pursuant 

13 to subparagraph (A) shall remain valid and re14 deemable by the passenger indefinitely. 

15 ‘‘(3) RETROACTIVE REFUNDS.—In the case of a 

16 passenger who— 

17 ‘‘(A) received an alternative form of com18 pensation during the period beginning on 

19 March 1, 2020, and ending on the day prior to 

20 the date of enactment of this Act for a covered 

21 flight or ticket for a covered flight canceled by 

22 the covered carrier or by the passenger; and 

23 ‘‘(B) has not fully used such alternative 

24 compensation, 


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1 such passenger may request a cash refund to replace 

2 the alternative compensation, or the remaining alter3 native compensation if the passenger has used part 

4 of the alternative compensation, and the covered car5 rier or ticket agent shall comply with such request 

6 within 30 days of receiving such request. 

7 ‘‘(4) REIMBURSEMENT TO TICKET AGENT.—A 

8 ticket agent who provides a cash refund to a pas9 senger under this section, including a retroactive re10 fund under paragraph (3), shall be entitled to 

11 prompt reimbursement from any covered carrier for 

12 the portion of the ticket price paid to that carrier. 

13 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

15 covered carrier or ticket agent may use amounts ap16 propriated or otherwise made available to the com17 mercial airline industry in any appropriations en18 acted on or after March 1, 2020, in response to 

19 COVID–19 to pay for the cash refunds under sub20 section (a), including retroactive refunds under para21 graph (3) of such subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A covered carrier may not 

23 use amounts appropriated under section 4112 of the 

24 Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020 

25 (title IV of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 


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1 and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136)) 

2 to pay for the cash refunds under subsection (a), in3 cluding retroactive refunds under paragraph (3) of 

4 such subsection. 

5 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PRIOR TO PURCHASE.—Prior to the sale of 

7 a ticket for passenger to take a covered flight, a cov8 ered carrier or ticket agent shall disclose, in writing 

9 in written or electronic communication, that the pas10 senger has a right to cancel their ticket at any time 

11 for any reason and receive a full cash refund. 

12 ‘‘(2) CANCELLED OR SIGNIFICANTLY DELAYED

13 FLIGHT.—In the case of a covered carrier or ticket 

14 agent who sells a ticket for a passenger to take a 

15 covered flight, if such flight is canceled or signifi16 cantly delayed (as defined by the Secretary of 

17 Transportation) by the covered carrier or such ticket 

18 is canceled by the passenger at least 48 hours before 

19 the scheduled departure of the flight, the covered 

20 carrier or ticket agent shall disclose, in writing in 

21 written or electronic communication, that the pas22 senger has a right to receive a full cash refund for 

23 their ticket. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR DISCLOSURE.—Any 

2 written or electronic disclosure under paragraph (1) 

3 or (2) shall be in a clear and conspicuous format. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) AIR CARRIER, FOREIGN AIR CARRIER, 

6 TICKET AGENT, AND UNITED STATES.—The terms 

7 ‘air carrier, foreign air carrier, ticket agent, and 

8 United States’ have the meanings given those terms 

9 in section 40102. 

10 ‘‘(2) COVERED CARRIER.—The term ‘covered 

11 carrier’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) any passenger air carrier that had an 

13 operating revenue in 2018 that exceeded 

14 $1,500,000,000 according to the Bureau of 

15 Transportation Statistics; or 

16 ‘‘(B) any passenger foreign air carrier op17 erating a flight to or from the United States. 

18 ‘‘(3) COVERED FLIGHT.—The term ‘covered 

19 flight’ means a flight of a covered carrier that is 

20 scheduled to depart from, or arrive at, an airport lo21 cated in the United States.’’. 

22 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 46301 of title 49, 

23 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j) PENALTIES RELATING TO CASH REFUNDS FOR

2 CANCELED AIRLINE FLIGHTS AND TICKETS.—An air car3 rier or ticket agent that violates section 41727 shall be 

4 liable to the Government for a civil penalty of $1,000 for 

5 each violation.’’. 

6 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap7 ter 417 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘41727. Cash refunds for canceled airline flights and tickets.’’. 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

Æ 


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