Good news for anyone who enjoys the thrill of a canceled flight: starting Monday, Oct. 19, the Transportation Department's new rule takes effect, and it will no longer be quite so easy to squeeze compensation out of an airline when your travel plans dissolve into a customer service queue.

Last month, the DOT announced that 10 types of flight disruptions will no longer be attributed to the air carrier. Instead, these 10 disruptions will be tracked in the freshly minted "Section 511(b) category" - a bureaucratic filing cabinet where blame goes to die. A Transportation Department spokesperson told Nexstar the recategorization is a response to the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which President Biden signed into law over two years ago, proving that legislation, like a delayed flight, eventually arrives.

The move is meant to "ensure government delay data accurately reflects what airlines can and cannot control." Airlines, meanwhile, are expected to save costs by "reducing the negative reputational impacts and harm that air carriers currently experience because the attribution of certain delay and cancellation causes to air carriers that this rulemaking addresses as not within their control," according to the DOT's federal filing. In plain English: the airlines complained that being blamed for things was bad for their image, and the government has now formally agreed to stop blaming them for things.

Aviation law firm Crowell & Moring LLP called it "a significant step forward for the airline industry," noting carriers had argued the current reporting structure "misattributes certain disruptions to carriers that are not within their operational control." The airline industry, it seems, has finally achieved its long-sought goal of being held accountable for slightly fewer things.

For passengers, however, it could be "quite a big blow potentially for customers," Clint Henderson, managing editor for The Points Guy, told Nexstar last month. The Transportation Department itself acknowledged that reclassifying delays and cancellations is expected to reduce "the total value of amenities and compensation currently provided by air carriers to consumers" - a sentence that reads like a warning label written by someone who has never missed a connecting flight.

"The one that is especially outrageous to me as a consumer advocate is that if a plane goes mechanical or has maintenance issues, that is no longer considered a reason the airline would give you compensation," Henderson said. Which means if your flight is canceled for a mechanical issue, "the airline wouldn't necessarily give you food or hotel vouchers." The plane broke; the voucher, apparently, did not survive the reclassification.

Henderson's advice: be prepared for disruptions, "have a backup plan in case things go sideways," and be aggressive when inquiring about delays and cancellations in pursuit of compensation. That may include asking for a hotel and reimbursement for ride shares, food, and beverages. And if an airline declines to offer cash compensation, he suggested asking for miles - because nothing says "we're sorry your vacation evaporated" like a pile of loyalty points with an expiration date.