But let me play the devil’s advocate. A lot of “late” flights are attributable to causes beyond the airline’s control: weather, air traffic delays, long lines for take-off, and these delays ripple through the entire schedule. If a 5 p.m. takeoff from one airport was late because of a delay caused by a weather problem at 7 a.m., airlines would argue successfully that they would not owe “change fees” to their customers. Most delayed passengers would never get compensation (and, indeed, airlines would start devoting a lot of time and energy to documenting the cause of delays to avoid paying fees).

And what if a small mechanical problem were discovered at 7 a.m., and the airline decided to ignore it because of the costs that would be incurred all day long as a result of repairing that problem? $50 per passenger multiplied by every passenger who will fly on that aircraft during the day would run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Would this legislating be giving airlines an incentive to just fly the plane with minor problems? Would we be creating a disincentive to maximizing aircraft safety?

Finally, I think it’s noteworthy that the most profitable airline in the US is Southwest, perhaps the only airline NOT to charge customers who change their tickets. Customers are already voting with their wallets … not that I’m a Southwest fan. Hopefully other airlines will notice, and the free market can accomplish what legislation probably could not.