Cause of Airline Delay and Cancellation Categories Under Section 511(b) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024

What it does

The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is amending its regulations governing how air carriers report the causes of flight cancellations and delays. This action implements Section 511(b) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which mandates that ten specific types of events be excluded from the "Air Carrier" causal reporting code. That code is reserved for circumstances that are within the carrier's control. This final rule creates a new reporting category to capture these ten specific events, ensuring that the data reported to the Department and shared with the traveling public accurately reflects the statutory distinction between carrier-controllable events and the specific exclusions identified by Congress.

The Transportation Department's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

14 CFR 234

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Transportation Department has published 10 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 9 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 2105-AF29 since Jan. 1, 2025.

Since then:

• Oct. 15, 2026 Final rule; delay of effective date. Cause of Airline Delay and Cancellation Categories Under Section 511(b) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024; Delay of Effective Date

What happens next and when

This final rule becomes effective on October 19, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

A later document, published Oct. 15, 2026, gives the effective date as Feb. 1, 2027. See it

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket DOT-OST-2026-1257 on Regulations.gov
• Title 14 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register