White House official vows ‘new interest’ in airline industry after flight woes

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Deputy White House Chief of Staff James Blair vowed on Thursday to take a “new interest” in the U.S. aviation industry after he and his wife experienced issues with separate American Airlines flights.

“Today, American Airlines delays me 2.5 hours because someone failed to notice empty hydraulic fluid before it was time to go down the runway. Yesterday, they apparently forgot to BOOK A PILOT for my wife’s flight,” Blair said on X. “I’m going to take a new interest in the airline industry.”

The White House and American Airlines did not immediately comment.

American Airlines’ performance has been under scrutiny since a late-January winter storm led to widespread flight cancellations that tested its recovery system.

Data from aviation analytics firm OAG shows American Airlines’ reliability lagged key rivals in January, trailing Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines in on-time performance and posted the highest cancellation rate among those airlines.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REVERSES BIDEN-ERA PROPOSALS

Since President Donald Trump began his second term last year, his administration has taken a series of steps to reverse aviation consumer proposals by the administration of former President Joe Biden.

In December, the Transportation Department moved to reverse some penalties imposed on airlines during the Biden administration, including waiving $16.7 million in fines imposed on American Airlines in 2024 as part of a settlement over the carrier’s treatment of disabled passengers.

The department also waived the remaining $11 million of a fine imposed on Southwest as part of a $140 million settlement over operational problems that stranded more than 2 million passengers during the busy holiday travel period in December 2022.

In November, the department withdrew a proposal issued under Biden that sought to require airlines to pay passengers cash compensation when carriers are responsible for U.S. flight disruptions.

Last month, the Transportation Department proposed revising its guidance to deemphasize imposing civil fines on airlines that violate consumer protection rules and to drop Biden-era policies that toughened enforcement.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)