WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. House and Senate

negotiators agreed late Tuesday to revise language in an

aviation reform bill to ensure quick refunds for airline

passengers whose flights are canceled and who are not seeking

alternative flights.

On April 24, the U.S. Transportation Department finalized

new rules that later this year will require automatic cash

refunds for canceled flights when passengers choose not to take

a new flight.

A bipartisan proposal in Congress released last week that

said passengers must request the refunds had raised concerns the

law could undercut a rule that would ensure people who bought

non-refundable tickets got reimbursed for canceled flights.

But under revised language first reported by Reuters and

made public Tuesday, refunds would be automatic in many

instances. Automatic refunds would not apply if passengers

rebooked and accepted a new flight.

Senators hope the revised bill will win approval before a

Friday deadline to reauthorize the Federal Aviation

Administration for five years.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat

who led the talks on the revised language, said, "Statutory

rights to refunds are a big win for consumers in this bill.

Passengers can reject vouchers or alternative flights, and

without hassle, get a refund."

Democratic Senator Ed Markey called the refund bill "a

victory for airline consumers everywhere."

A spokesperson for Senator Ted Cruz, the panel's top

Republican, said he and Cantwell had agreed to add a "clarifying

point affirming the right of consumers to get a refund if that

is their preference."

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley had proposed an

amendment to make the refunds automatic and "crack down on

burdensome corporate processes put in place to maximize

airlines' profits." The new provision is similar to what Warren

and Hawley had sought.

Neither the rule nor the legislation mandates compensation

for delays -- as is required for some lengthy waits in the

European Union. President Joe Biden said last May that the

Transportation Department would propose new rules requiring

airlines to compensate passengers with cash for significant

controllable flight delays or cancellations.

The nearly 1,100-page, $105 billion bill would also boost

air traffic controller staffing and hike funding to avert runway

close-call incidents. But it does not include a provision passed

by the House of Representatives to raise the airline pilot

retirement age to 67 from 65.

The bill prohibits airlines from charging fees for families

to sit together, adds five daily roundtrip flights at busy

Washington National Airport and requires airlines to accept

vouchers and credits for at least five years.

The bill also requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour

cockpit recording devices and directs the FAA to deploy advanced

airport surface technology to help prevent collisions.