Pete Buttigieg travel tips

The U.S. government has increasingly taken aim at junk fees, charges levied by travel service providers that are considered unnecessary or excessive and not clearly communicated to travelers.

Southwest Airlines canceled 16,900 flights and stranded more than 2 million fliers between December 2022 and early January 2023, as operations took a nosedive amid severe winter storms that disrupted holiday air travel across much of the United States last year. But while other major U.S. carriers recovered from the weather-fueled delays and cancellations, Southwest struggled to normalize operations and continued to cancel flights in the days following Christmas 2022. Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is making it very clear that that level of failed service comes with serious consequences.

The Department of Transportation has ordered Southwest to pay a $140 million fine for numerous consumer-protection violations that resulted from last year’s holiday travel meltdown. 

The Transportation Department on Monday announced a $140 million fine against Southwest Airlines over a meltdown last winter that disrupted travel for about two million people during the holiday season.

‘Tis the season for traveling, and US government officials are urging travelers to make sure they know their rights ahead of time.

It's a new year! (Or will be soon, depending on when you're reading this.) Which means another edition of the Gold List, Traveler's annual compendium of our editors' favorite hotels and cruises, our 30th time doing it. It's wild to think back to where the world was when we put out the first one I was involved with: Pete Buttigieg was about to win the Iowa caucuses, Japan still thought it would be hosting the Olympics that summer, and COVID-19 was just an alarming headline about a seemingly distant new virus.

High-speed rail in the United States may soon be a reality. The White House recently announced the allocation of $8.2 billion in funding for several key rail projects including a Las Vegas to Los Angeles corridor; a Raleigh, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia, route; new service throughout California’s central valley; and more. The investment is a component of President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” Agenda.  While high-speed rail has been a popular wish among travelers for many years, the allocation of funding helps put the project in motion, with one administration official sharing with Travel + Leisure that the Las Vegas to Los Angeles route could be completed in advance of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “If you’ve ever seen the standard of passenger rail service in Japan, Germany, Spain, or Italy, and come home and wondered, 'Why can’t we have these nice things?’ This is the beginning of the answer to that. Help is on the way,” Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, told T+L during a press briefing on the announcement.  Buttigieg said that the lack of investment in new rail services over the last several decades is a trend that is now being reversed and that while change won’t happen overnight, travelers will see improvements within a few years.  Over 35 rail projects were named as part of the funding announcement, including: 

Las Vegas travelers are a $3 billion step closer to speeding through the Mojave Desert on a high-speed train linking Sin City with Southern California.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is working to minimize potential disruptions over the holidays by implementing contingency plans in advance.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, November 21. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

This past Friday, November 17, marked the official start of the Thanksgiving travel period, a 12-day stretch during which the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) anticipates that it will screen a record 30 million passengers this year. And unfortunately, the period that typically sees the busiest travel days of the year comes just as a major storm is gaining momentum across much of the eastern half of the United States.

Ahead of what is expected to be one of the busiest travel seasons in history, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg warned of potential weather-related disruptions and increased pressure on airlines to manage high passenger volumes while encouraging travelers to remember their passenger rights.

U.S. authorities are taking a number of measures to ensure smooth flights for the record number of people set to take the skies this Thanksgiving.

Business as usual at the Federal Aviation Administration isn’t enough to dig out of the national air traffic controller shortage affecting flights across the U.S.

United States President Joe Biden announced that Amtrak has been awarded nearly $10 billion in Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) funding for work along the Northeast Corridor (NEC).

"I know every airline is feeling the pressure to deliver and be there as we go into the holidays."

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed former United Airlines executive Michael Whitaker as the next administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Emma Giantisco and Dylan Marton were stranded in Munich for three days when technical issues with partner airlines deleted their flight reservations more than seven times. 

A U.S. government shutdown is looking more likely by the day as budget negotiations drag on in Congress. A shutdown would start Sunday, unless the government can reach a deal by the September 30 deadline. 

A partial shutdown of the US government is looming and it could cause disruption for travellers across the country.

United Airlines on Thursday said it will improve air travel for passengers using wheelchairs under an agreement with the U.S. Transportation Department following a government investigation into a disability complaint.