A brand new rule proposed by the Biden administration would require airways to reimburse passengers for bills each time there’s a main delay or cancellation attributable to one thing inside the airline’s management, like staffing shortages or mechanical points.

Frontier CEO Barry Biffle has a special concept.

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Chatting with a number of reporters following a Wings Membership presentation by Delta CEO Ed Bastian this week, Biffle laid out another rule that he says can be simpler at managing airline disruptions than requiring carriers to cowl issues like meals, toiletries, lodges and various journey preparations.

A return of “Rule 240.”

Rule 240 was a stipulation earlier than the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 that required airways to hold one another’s passengers throughout delays or cancellations attributable to something moreover dangerous climate.

The foremost airways, which have interline agreements with one another, should still voluntarily rebook passengers on their rivals’ planes throughout irregular operations. Nonetheless, that’s usually not required and customarily solely contains the three legacy airways — American, Delta and United, together with Alaska and doubtlessly JetBlue in some circumstances. Smaller airways and low-cost carriers, equivalent to Southwest, Spirit, Frontier and others, do not need such agreements, and the foremost airways will not be essentially considering getting into into interline offers with their low-cost rivals.

“It acquired turned off after [airline] consolidation,” Biffle mentioned, referring to a collection of mergers within the a long time since deregulation that led to there being three fundamental legacy carriers. “After consolidation, all the large guys minimize everybody off.”

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Frontier, which is at present the one main airline that doesn’t voluntarily provide lodge lodging for passengers who’re canceled or delayed in a single day, in line with the Division of Transportation, would be capable of work with the larger airways to accommodate their passengers throughout disruptions if a modernized Rule 240 was applied, Biffle mentioned.

“If we, as an trade, get collectively and say we will defend customers, that if there is a seat obtainable, you are going to have it,” clients would profit greater than they’d underneath the administration’s proposed guidelines, Biffle recommended.

“There is a answer that already exists,” Biffle added. “And I wish to work with the opposite airways and the Biden administration to implement it.”

Finally, Biffle implied, cooperating on an interline rebooking plan would profit the airways together with clients.

“Should you requested Southwest if they’d have beloved to have entry to my seats throughout their meltdown, I wager they’d have beloved it,” he mentioned, referring to Southwest’s operational collapse following winter storms in the course of the vacation journey interval, though Frontier possible would have been capable of deal with solely a fraction of the stranded passengers.

Moreover, the outdated rule solely would have utilized afterward within the Southwest saga — the primary few days of storm-related cancellations, which affected each provider, would have been thought-about to have been attributable to climate and never resulted in a triggering of the rule.

Biffle mentioned that he had not but approached the Biden administration or different airways to marketing campaign for the rule however mentioned he intends to.

“I am planning on speaking to them,” he mentioned. “I’ll discuss to everyone.”

The DOT didn’t instantly return TPG’s request for remark.

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U.S. airways have traditionally opposed necessities to reimburse passengers throughout important delays or cancellations, arguing that it will drive them to lift fares to compensate for extra prices. The Biden administration’s proposal would come with protections much like these required within the European Union.

In a press release responding to the proposed guidelines earlier this month, Airways for America, the commerce group and lobbying group representing U.S. carriers, mentioned that carriers had already taken steps to reduce points that have been inside their management.

“U.S. airways don’t have any incentive to delay or cancel a flight and do every thing of their management to make sure flights depart and arrive on time,” A4A mentioned.