(a) In General.—In the case of a passenger that holds a nonrefundable ticket on a scheduled flight to, from, or within the United States, an air carrier or a foreign air carrier shall, upon request as set forth in subsection (f), provide a full refund, including any taxes and ancillary fees, for the fare such carrier collected for any cancelled flight or significantly delayed or changed flight where the passenger chooses not to—
(1)
fly on the significantly delayed or changed flight or accept rebooking on an alternative flight; or
(2)
accept any voucher, credit, or other form of compensation offered by the air carrier or foreign air carrier pursuant to subsection (c).
(b) Timing of Refund.—Any refund required under subsection (a) shall be issued by the air carrier or foreign air carrier—
(c) Alternative to Refund.—An air carrier and a foreign air carrier may offer a voucher, credit, or other form of compensation as an explicit alternative to providing a refund required by subsection (a) but only if—
(2)
the voucher, credit, or other form of compensation offered explicitly as an alternative to providing a refund required by subsection (a) remains valid and redeemable by the consumer for a period of at least 5 years from the date on which such voucher, credit, or other form of compensation is issued;
(3)
upon the issuance of such voucher, credit, or other form of compensation, an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent, where applicable, notifies the recipient of the expiration date of the voucher, credit, or other form of compensation; and
(4)
upon request by an individual who self-identifies as having a disability (as defined in section 382.3 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations), an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent provides a notification under paragraph (3) in an electronic format that is accessible to the recipient.
(d) Significantly Delayed or Changed Flight Defined.—In this section, the term “significantly delayed or changed flight” includes, at a minimum, a flight where the passenger arrives at a destination airport—
(e) Application to Ticket Agents.—
(1) In general.—
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue a final rule to apply refund requirements to ticket agents in the case of cancelled flights and significantly delayed or changed flights.
(2) Transfer of funds.—The Secretary shall issue regulations requiring air carriers and foreign air carriers to promptly transfer funds to a ticket agent if—
(3) Timing and alternatives.—
A refund provided by a ticket agent shall comply with the requirements in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(f) Refund.—An air carrier and a foreign air carrier shall consider a passenger to have requested a refund if—
(1)
a flight is cancelled and a passenger is not offered an alternative flight or any voucher, credit, or other form of compensation by the air carrier or foreign air carrier pursuant to subsection (c);
(2)
a passenger rejects the significantly delayed or changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or any voucher, credit, or other form of compensation offered by the air carrier or foreign air carrier pursuant to subsection (c); or
(g) Refund Notification.—
An air carrier and a foreign air carrier shall update their passenger notification systems to ensure passengers owed a refund under this section are notified of their right to receive a refund.