HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Airline CEOs have high-flying hopes for the new administration.

They celebrated President Donald Trump’s victory in November, calling it a “breath of fresh air.”

From Delta to Southwest to United, executives anticipate fewer regulations and required consumer protections.

After multiple meltdowns among airlines, including the 2022 Southwest holiday meltdown that left millions of passengers stranded and the 2024 CrowdStrike-Microsoft outage that canceled thousands of Delta flights, the Department of Transportation under former President Joe Biden aggressively cracked down on the industry.

Biden’s Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, branded himself as a consumer rights champion with the new rules for airlines, which included: automatic cash refunds for canceled flights; mandatory up-front disclosure of baggage fees; a ban on fees for children to sit with a parent; 5-year vouchers; a requirement to define a “significant” delay; and free 24/7 live customer service, among others.

The Biden administration also opened investigations into airlines’ frequent-flyer programs to make sure they’re fair, and either sued or fined certain airlines for what they claim are “chronically” delayed flights.

Airlines pushed back against these rules, even suing to kill a rule requiring more transparency over fees they charge. They argued these measures would hurt their bottom lines.

Fortunately for them, it really didn’t. They’re reporting record earnings and demand has never been higher. (If anything, Boeing’s turbulent last few years resulting in grounded flights hurt profit margins).

While Trump’s Justice and Transportation Departments may shift their focus to other priorities, industry experts say it’s doubtful the administration will roll back any of these enacted or pending consumer protections.

“I know that this administration has a reputation for being very favorable of deregulation,” said Bonnie Hayes, a consultant for airline policy and procedures. “But some of these consumer protection laws and regulations coming into effect – I just don’t know that a strong argument is going to be made for deregulation on some of these.”

Buttigieg’s argument was that airline CEOs should focus more on passengers and less on regulations. He argued these protections enjoy bipartisan support – and that was proven at a December Senate hearing on airline fees.

“We’re all captives on your airplanes at a certain point. You just say, ‘You want to pick a seat? We’re just going to charge you some random amount more,’” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. “It would be good if you guys could be transparent about what you do and why.”

Similarly, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., slammed executives of Frontier and Spirit Airlines for paying their employees to fine passengers if their bags are too big to fit in the overhead bin.

“If people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today,” Hawley said. “Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who have already paid.”

Many issues, including Southwest’s holiday meltdown, stemmed from a shortage of air traffic controllers, which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to allow airlines to reduce their schedules by up to 10% last year.

For the new Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, this is a priority, along with ramping up innovation.

“Transportation is [entering] an extraordinary new era,” Duffy told senators at his confirmation hearing last week. “We’re entering it from e-vehicles, drones, autonomous vehicles, to space travel. We’re in a global race to out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world. If confirmed, we will craft clear regulations which balance safety, innovation and cutting-edge technology, but always focused on safety.”

Duffy added he’s also planning to get Boeing “back on track.”

Industry experts note that while airlines say they’re looking forward to a less regulatory environment, they’ll still be competing with each other for the best consumer experience.

“If some are given the option and some carriers choose to offer all families seated together with minor children, and other carriers don’t, what’s that going to do to their brand?” Hayes said.

Furthermore, Hayes said she worked for a major carrier for nearly four decades, and improvements to passengers’ experiences is typically a “hard sell.”

“As new regulations would come about and different administrations would come and go, you didn’t see anything really rolled back,” she said. “Once things were in place, they stayed. They were built upon, but especially when it came to the passenger’s journey and their customer experience, I just haven’t really seen it.”