By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Transportation Department will announce Monday that it has issued a new rule in an effort to allow regulators to take action faster to safeguard airline passengers from deceptive and unfair practices. Sources told Reuters.

New regulation will speed and simplify the process of hearings used by department when issuing protection rules prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts by airline ticket agents. The future regulations of the department will govern airline ticket refunds as well as transparency regarding baggage charges and any other fees. The department also soon will issue guidance on the definitions of “unfair” and “deceptive” for purposes of airline customer protection, the sources said.

The new regulations will allow airlines and others to request hearings regarding proposed aviation regulations. They will be required to make hearings more quickly, clarify that they will not be denied unless it is in the public’s interest, and remove the requirement for hearing officers to issue detailed reports.

Airlines for America (an airline trade association) did not respond immediately.

USDOT stated last year that it would issue an additional proposed rule to demand upfront disclosure about baggage fees, cancellation fees and change fees. The U.S. currently states that passengers have the right to be reimbursed for lost bags, but not for delayed baggage.

The USDOT proposed last year new regulations to make it mandatory for passenger airlines that they refund bags significantly delayed or for refunds on services such as Wi-Fi not working.

September was a busy month for the Biden administration. In September, it announced that 16 seats would be available at Newark International Airport in New Jersey for a low-cost carrier. The Biden administration also indicated it may take actions to improve competition at other airports.