Airlines can renumber a flight and avoid refunding passengers

The US Department of Transportation will temporarily stop enforcing rules that require airlines to refund passengers when a flight number changes. This means airlines can rebook passengers on a renumbered flight without issuing a refund, as long as the flight itself is not significantly delayed or changed.

Before this, changing a flight number automatically triggered a refund requirement for airlines. Now, airlines have a loophole to avoid refunds for what is essentially a cancelled flight, as long as they can get passengers on a new flight with a different number. This shifts the burden from airlines having to pay out refunds to passengers having to accept a rebooked flight.