On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department or DOT) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment to assist DOT in identifying existing regulatory obligations “that can be modified or repealed…to ensure that DOT administrative actions do not undermine the national interest and that DOT achieves meaningful burden reduction while continuing to meet statutory obligations and ensure the safety of the U.S. transportation system.”¹ Comments in response to the RFI are due by May 5, 2025.

Background

In February 2025, President Trump issued two Executive Orders (EOs) aiming to reduce government regulation and control regulatory costs:

• EO 14219, Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementation of the President’s "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory Agenda,² and
• EO 14192, Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation.³

The RFI seeks comment in accordance with those EOs and with respect to “DOT regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that may be inconsistent” with other EOs issued by the President, including those pertaining to DEI, gender ideology, and energy.⁴

The Request for Information

The RFI seeks input “from the public, particularly entities significantly affected by administrative actions of DOT, including State, local, and tribal governments; small businesses; consumers; non-governmental organizations; transportation system operators and service providers; and manufacturers and their trade associations.”⁵ DOT explains that its “goal is to create a systematic method of identifying those existing DOT regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that are inconsistent with law or Administration policy, including regulations, guidance, reporting requirements that are obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, or simply no longer make sense.”⁶ The RFI explains that interested parties may be “well-positioned to identify those regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that are most in need of reform,” and, thus, can “assist DOT in prioritizing and properly tailoring its review process.”⁷

Aviation-Specific Considerations

The airline industry remains heavily regulated. While some regulations are necessary (particularly safety-based FAA regulations), consumer protection rules often present burdensome compliance costs for airlines and other aviation-related entities without countervailing public benefits. These costs are often passed on to consumers and, in some sectors of the industry, existing regulatory requirements stymie innovation and reinforce the status quo, preventing innovative startup companies from bringing their products and service offerings to market.

During the Biden administration, DOT promulgated several high-profile final rules intended to bolster the rights of airline passengers, including two related rules published in April 2024:

• The Refunds and Other Consumer Protections Final Rule,⁸ and
• The Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees Final Rule.⁹

These Biden-era requirements imposed costly requirements for airlines and ticket agents. Additionally, these requirements have proven to be confusing for both consumers and regulated entities, rendering them less effective and more expensive to implement than DOT anticipated. These rules are, thus, ripe for reconsideration under the Trump administration.

Beyond that, however, rules that may be well-positioned for review might include those which micromanage airline conduct, including rules that prescribe the exact font size, type face, or specific language that must be presented in price advertising and itinerary online search results,¹⁰ and highly prescriptive regulations that overburden other facets of the airline industry, such as repair stations,¹¹ pilot schools,¹² and training centers.¹³ Other potential areas for challenge might include those where DOT has adopted a sweeping, and at times extraterritorial, interpretation of its own authority.¹⁴ This includes, for example, DOT’s asserted jurisdiction to police conduct at foreign airports that involve U.S.-origin or destination passengers, even when such passengers are traveling between two foreign airports.¹⁵

Related Efforts & Outcomes

In addition to potential challenges that may be successfully presented to repeal existing regulations consistent with the above, airlines and ticket agents can expect that certain Biden-era proposed consumer protection rules published or anticipated before the new Administration entered office will likely be significantly modified or not finalized. For example, the Department’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to Airline Passenger Rights, published in December 2024,¹⁶ is not likely to proceed. This proposed rule considered whether to impose requirements on airlines for significant flight disruptions within their control, including requiring that the airline provide consumers cash compensation, free rebooking, and amenities such as meals, lodging, and ground transportation.

While DOT and FAA promulgate and enforce the largest set of rules related to the aviation industry, interested parties should also be aware of the Trump administration’s efforts to collect deregulation suggestions with respect to other federal agencies.¹⁷ For airlines and other aviation-related entities, such an opportunity could be used to identify overly burdensome rules related to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to name a few.

Next Steps

As noted above, public comments and information submitted in support of the RFI are due by May 5, 2025. In addition to the public docket for the filing of comments, DOT has established an email address, transportation.regulatoryinfo@dot.gov, to which interested parties may submit their comments regarding the modification or recession of existing regulations, guidance, reporting requirements, and other regulatory obligations.