Cash Refunds for Coronavirus Cancellations Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3727 To provide for cash refunds for canceled airline flights and tickets during the COVID–19 emergency. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. HARRIS)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide for cash refunds for canceled airline flights and tickets during the COVID–19 emergency. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cash Refunds for 4 Coronavirus Cancellations Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CASH REFUNDS FOR CANCELED AIRLINE FLIGHTS 6 AND TICKETS DURING THE COVID–19 EMER- 7 GENCY. 8 (a) CASH REFUNDS.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3727 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered carrier or ticket 1 agent who sells a ticket for a passenger to take a 2 covered flight, and either such flight is canceled by 3 the covered carrier or such ticket is canceled by the 4 passenger, shall promptly offer the passenger a full 5 cash refund for such ticket, including any ancillary 6 fees paid. 7 (2) ALTERNATIVE FORM OF COMPENSATION.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered carrier or 9 ticket agent may also offer an alternative form 10 of compensation determined appropriate by the 11 covered carrier or ticket agent, including credit, 12 voucher, or other mechanism to compensate a 13 passenger, provided that any such offer includes 14 clear and conspicuous notice of a passenger’s 15 right to a cash refund under paragraph (1). 16 (B) NO EXPIRATION DATE.—An alter- 17 native form of compensation provided pursuant 18 to subparagraph (A) shall remain valid and re- 19 deemable by the passenger indefinitely. 20 (3) RETROACTIVE REFUNDS.—In the case of a 21 passenger who— 22 (A) received an alternative form of com- 23 pensation prior to the date of enactment of this 24 Act for a covered flight or ticket for a covered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3727 IS flight canceled by the covered carrier or by the 1 passenger; and 2 (B) has not used such alternative com- 3 pensation, 4 such passenger may request a cash refund to replace 5 the alternative compensation and the covered carrier 6 or ticket agent shall promptly comply with such re- 7 quest. 8 (4) REIMBURSEMENT TO TICKET AGENT.—A 9 ticket agent who provides a cash refund to a pas- 10 senger under this section, including a retroactive re- 11 fund under paragraph (3), shall be entitled to 12 prompt reimbursement from any covered carrier for 13 the portion of the ticket price paid to that carrier. 14 (b) FUNDING.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 16 covered carrier or ticket agent may use amounts ap- 17 propriated or otherwise made available to the com- 18 mercial airline industry in any appropriations en- 19 acted on or after March 1, 2020, in response to 20 COVID–19 to pay for the cash refunds under sub- 21 section (a), including retroactive refunds under para- 22 graph (3) of such subsection. 23 (2) LIMITATION.—A covered carrier may not 24 use amounts appropriated under section 4112 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3727 IS Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020 1 (title IV of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 2 and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136)) 3 to pay for the cash refunds under subsection (a), in- 4 cluding retroactive refunds under paragraph (3) of 5 such subsection. 6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ has 8 the meaning given that term in section 40102 of 9 title 49, United States Code. 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 oper- 17 ating 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 lo- 21 cated in the United States during the COVID–19 22 emergency period. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3727 IS (4) COVID–19 EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The 1 term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ means the pe- 2 riod— 3 (A) beginning on March 1, 2020; and 4 (B) ending on the date that is 180 days 5 after the later of the expiration of— 6 (i) the public health emergency de- 7 clared by the Secretary of Health and 8 Human Services under section 319 of the 9 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 10 247d) with respect to COVID–19; or 11 (ii) the national emergency declared 12 by the President under the National Emer- 13 gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with 14 respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 15 (COVID–19). 16 (5) FOREIGN AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘foreign 17 air carrier’’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 18 tion 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 19 (6) TICKET AGENT.—The term ‘‘ticket agent’’ 20 has the meaning given that term in section 40102 21 of title 49, United States Code. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3727 IS (7) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 1 States’’ has the meaning given that term in section 2 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3727.IS S3727 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS