The Trump Administration Lets Airlines Off the Hook for Delay/Cancellation Compensation; Rest in Peace, Harold Matzner–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Sept. 5, 2025

Indy Digest: Sept. 5, 2025

If you read Monday’s Indy Digest, you know I was supposed to be at a journalism conference this week.

That did not happen.

I was scheduled to travel on Tuesday, and my first flight wound up being delayed by about 90 minutes. Seeing as my layover was only scheduled to be 50 minutes, and the second flight was on time, I had a problem.

All other workable flights on Southwest, the airline on which my flight was booked, were full. Last-minute flights on other airlines were obscenely expensive. So, no conference for me.

Still, I feel pretty fortunate. Beyond the conference fee, I did not lose any money on the debacle. The hotel cancelled my entire reservation for no charge; Southwest gave me a credit for the full amount I paid for the flights, which I will definitely use. I was supposed to fly out of Reno, where I have a place, so I didn’t need to pay for a hotel room. (As for all of the other flights being full, I have four words to say: Damn you, Burning Man!)

However, other travelers were not as fortunate—and airlines are not required compensate stranded passengers, even when flight delays or cancellations are an airline’s fault.

The Biden administration tried to change that, proposing a new rule that would have mandated airlines in the U.S. to compensate passengers when flights were cancelled or significantly delayed, and the airline was at fault.

Earlier this week, however, the Trump administration scuttled that new rule. The Washington Post explains:

The proposal, introduced for public comment in December in the final weeks of the Biden administration, called for airlines to pay passengers between $200 and $775 in cash and to cover any meals, hotels and transportation expenses related to a flight disruption within the carrier’s control, such as a mechanical issue. The proposal would have also mandated that airlines rebook passengers on the next available flight at no additional cost.

“I don’t think we can underestimate how huge this would have been,” said William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. He said consumer advocates have been discussing the possibility for about two decades, since similar protections were enacted in Europe. “It would just basically make us on par with much of the world.”

Officials said Thursday in the document withdrawing the proposal that doing so was “consistent with Department and administration priorities.”

Pete Buttigieg, who headed the Department of Transportation during the Biden presidency, commented yesterday on X, aka Twitter: “Our billionaire president put an airline lobbyist in charge of the Department of Transportation. So no, this is not a surprise.”

He’s right. Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has had many jobs in the past: He’s a former congressman; he’s a former competitive lumberjack (!); and he was part of the cast of MTV’s The Real World: Boston. And he was indeed a lobbyist for a coalition of U.S. airlines.

Moves like this prove, yet again, that the Trump administration is prioritizing big-money interests—and certainly NOT the American people.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• The Trump administration’s hateful war on the trans community may soon be taken to a new, terrifying level. ABC News says: “Senior Justice Department officials have held internal deliberations in recent days over potentially issuing a rule that could restrict transgender individuals from being able to own firearms, two officials familiar with the discussions confirmed Thursday to ABC News. The policy discussions, which are believed to be in their early stages and driven in part by chatter in right-wing media, follow last week’s Minneapolis Catholic church shooting that the FBI has said was carried out by a transgender woman. Such a proposal could face significant pushback not only from civil rights groups but from gun rights organizations, which have historically been resistant to the issuance of any regulations restricting people’s access to firearms. There is no evidence to suggest transgender people are more likely to be violent than the general population. However, transgender people are far more likely than average to be the victim of a violent crime.”

• CBS News has made yet another change to appease the Trump administration. Variety reports: “The Paramount Skydance news unit said Friday it would cease editing taped interviews with newsmakers who appear on ‘Face the Nation’ following complaints from the Trump administration over an appearance on the show earlier this week when U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made a number of false or unproven statements about Kilmar Abergo Garcia, the Salvadoran man who was deported despite his having protected legal status in the United States. CBS News offered just a portion of the overall interview with Noem and made the full exchange available online. Noem accused the news division of selectively editing footage. CBS News’ move is an unorthodox one, potentially leaving show moderators and producers unable to remove false statements or propaganda uttered by political operatives and officials and undermining the authority and credibility of Margaret Brennan, the moderator of the Sunday public-affairs program. The edict is also risky, potentially giving viewers the sense that Brennan is less able to question or challenge her guests—one of the main elements of TV’s Sunday political shows that bring viewers to them in the first place.”

• You’ll be hearing a LOT about a possible federal government shutdown in the next few weeks. CNBC explains: “Congressional lawmakers are already trading blame over the looming government shutdown, foreshadowing what will likely be a bitter partisan dispute over the next several weeks, as funding hangs in the balance. Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill this week as the threat of a shutdown at the end of the month intensified, and the familiar partisan fault lines reappeared. … To pass a stopgap measure in the Senate before Sept. 30, the date that funding is set to expire, GOP leaders will need Democratic support to clear the chamber’s 60-vote threshold. But that will likely be difficult, as Democrats—eager to put the majority party on defense as the 2026 midterm elections near—appear willing to hold the line and spar with their Republican counterparts over marquee pieces of President Donald Trump’s agenda. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted with Republicans in March to avert a shutdown, a decision that drew strong backlash from his party. Schumer likely wants to avoid that this time around.”

• Delivery times and reliability by the U.S. Postal Service aren’t so great these days—and that’s without the USPS intentionally destroying mail, as was the case recently in Torrance. The Los Angeles Times explains what happened: “The U.S. Postal Service temporarily closed a post office in Torrance, relocated mail services and destroyed thousands of pieces of mail and packages after tests revealed the facility had been contaminated with asbestos, officials said. Natashi Garvins, a USPS spokesperson, said in a written statement that the facility was temporarily shut down on July 26 and mail services were relocated to other facilities, including in Hawthorne and El Segundo. The closure was made a day after a hazmat team responded to the facility. Video from the scene that day showed dozens of postal service workers standing in the parking lot. … The United States Postal Inspection Service is overseeing the collection and disposal of more than 4,000 mail pieces that were contaminated. ‘While we understand the importance of these items to our customers, these steps are being taken in accordance with federal, state and local’ regulations, Garvins said.”

• Props to our partners at Calmatters, whose efforts prompted the California DMV to make it easier for some residents to get money they are owed: “For years, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has been keeping profits from the sales of towed cars, without giving the owners much of a chance to claim money that’s rightfully theirs. That’s changing, thanks to a CalMatters investigation. The state DMV is now offering a lookup tool on its website, allowing people to see if the DMV owes them money from what’s known as a lien sale. The tool is nearly identical to the one CalMatters created for our story in March. By law, towing companies, storage yards and car repair shops can sell your car to recoup their costs if you do not pick up your vehicle. It’s known as a lien sale. For poor Californians, the tows and compounding fees are often a trap. Police can tow your car for things like expired registration, but you might not be able to get it back if you can’t renew your registration because you have unpaid fees and fines from things like traffic and parking tickets. Lien sales have to be approved by the DMV, and any money leftover is supposed to go to the agency. Typically, lien sales end in debt. However, CalMatters found that the DMV collected more than $8 million from nearly 5,300 cars sold at auction between 2016 through the fall of 2024. Owners are entitled to that surplus, and have up to three years to claim it. But the agency does not notify owners of the refunds.”

• And finally … goodbye to Harold Matzner, the local philanthropist, supporter of the arts and owner of Spencer’s Restaurant. He passed away at the age of 88 yesterday. I recommend reading, if you can, Bruce Fessier’s comprehensive obituary in The Desert Sun. It’s worth paying a buck for a month’s subscription to do so. Here’s a tidbit: “Just as remarkable as any of his million-dollar gifts to local charities was his application of the concept of vertical integration to philanthropy. Matzner used his large donations to earn himself positions on charity boards where he could arrange matching gifts and partnerships as well as grow development staffs to build a new broad donor base. He bought large amounts of print space in The Desert Sun, Palm Springs Life and Desert Charities News to provide public recognition for major donors, which attracted new contributors and perpetuated a culture of philanthropy. In doing so, he left the valley less dependent on a few super wealthy individuals.” 

Support the Independent!

Thanks for reading the Coachella Valley Independent. As we’ve expanded our coverage, the advertising revenue that we bring in is not enough to pay all of our bills these days—yet we are determined to neither decrease nor weaken our coverage in any way! Help us keep on keeping on, if you can, by clicking the button below and becoming Supporter of the Independent!