Posted on: Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Efforts to improve passenger protection gain steam
By Marilyn Adams
USA Today
Stronger legal protections for passengers on U.S. airlines are gaining momentum because of this year's record flight delays and service meltdowns.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed new rules addressing problem areas, including tarmac delays and bumping of passengers on overbooked flights. In Congress, both the House and the Senate have consumer-protection legislation pending to cover many of the same areas.
"If the Department of Transportation doesn't act, Congress will, and perhaps go even further," U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said yesterday.
Some of the proposals:
A House proposal, part of a larger bill to modernize the air-traffic control system, would force airlines to submit detailed emergency plans for taking care of passengers during tarmac delays that continue for several hours. The plans, requiring provisions for adequate water, food, restroom facilities and ventilation, would be subject to DOT approval. The government could fine airlines that don't adhere to plans.
The DOT, under existing legal authority, has proposed a doubling of the compensation to a passenger who gets involuntarily bumped from a flight that's overbooked. The traveler would get $400 to $800, depending on how quickly he or she is given a seat on a later flight. Flights on planes seating 30 to 60 passengers, now exempt from bumping rules, would be covered.
The DOT is also proposing to declare it an unfair and deceptive business practice for airlines to sell and operate flights that almost never arrive on time. A "chronically late flight" would be one that arrives more than 15 minutes late more than 70 percent of the time. Airlines could be fined for the practice.
