During the pandemic, thousands of passengers whose flights had been canceled never received refunds.

Instead, the airlines gave them flight credits. The problem is that many of these vouchers had expiration dates.

Last year, about $10 billion worth of those credits expired. Under current laws, there are no airlines required to give passengers compensation for delayed or canceled fights.

But there’s now a bill pending in Congress, appropriately called the Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act, which would require an airline to offer a cash refund within 30 days if the airline cancels a flight, along with a $1,000 civil penalty for any airline violating that law.