Today, I'm afraid that it is companies first. DOT should come up with some similar rules concerning on-time schedules. If your flight is more than one hour late and less than two hours late, the airlines should pay you compensation for your lost time etc. There should be another category for flights more than two hours late. This may encourage airlines to make schedules realistic and let customers know what's happening.
Airlines respond to the stick.
I can already hear them howling, we'll go broke. Not if they tell the truth and stick to their schedules. Lets hope that by some form of magic the DOT comes back to the side of the traveler. Somewhere in their bureaucratic soul, I know that the department wants to help passengers. Unfortunately, Congress has stripped them of any enforcement capabilities.