Pete Buttigieg feels people's pain when their flights get canceled last-minute ... and his team at the Department of Transportation wants people to know they're entitled to some serious green during those annoying situations.
The Transportation Secretary joined us on "TMZ Live" to chat about the DOT's new system, which is aimed at picking up the pieces for travelers when the airlines keep the deets vague regarding cancelations.
The soon-to-come dashboard will help customers determine if they're owed cash when their flight gets delayed or canceled -- something he claims airlines have failed to make obvious.
He says rules have been in place to help clarify the tricky process ... but they're still vague so the DOT decided to raise the bar on transparency.