Oct 10, 2007
A new FAA funding bill passed by the House of Representatives takes baby steps toward ensuring air passengers' rights
A passenger rights bill has now passed one house of Congress. It seeks to address the appalling incidents in which people on grounded planes have been kept virtual prisoners for hours at a stretch as food, water, and A/C runs out and the onboard toilets overflow. Problem is, it's a law without any teeth.
I waded through the text (anyone can read the resolution, H.R. 2881, at http://thomas.loc.gov), and it merely demands that large and medium hub airports, and the carriers that use them, each draw up an emergency contingency plan to "provide food, water that meets the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act, restroom facilities, cabin ventilation, and access to medical treatment for passengers onboard an aircraft at the airport that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal." It also contains a provision to "allow passengers to deplane following excessive delays."
Notice that it doesn't defines how long constitutes "an extended period of time" or an "excessive delay." What's more, should the airlines and airports fail to file (or, in the case of an incident, abide by) such plans, the Secretary of Transportation may simply "assess a civil penalty." That's all.
Maybe we should be happy over this slight progress. The bill also includes provisions to address noise and congestion issues as well, an amendment ordering the Secretary of Transportation to institute a consumer complaint hotline, and supposedly contains enough funding to start modernizing the antiquated air traffic control system that is contributing to air flight delays.
Meanwhile, the White House has threatened to veto the bill, and the Senate is working on its own version. Complaining about the state of air travel won't get you very far. The only chance to change the system is when the laws governing it are being written, so if any of you frequent fliers out there feel the House version isn't up to snuff, maybe now is the right time to write to your Senator.
Write and read comments about this post.
I waded through the text (anyone can read the resolution, H.R. 2881, at http://thomas.loc.gov), and it merely demands that large and medium hub airports, and the carriers that use them, each draw up an emergency contingency plan to "provide food, water that meets the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act, restroom facilities, cabin ventilation, and access to medical treatment for passengers onboard an aircraft at the airport that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal." It also contains a provision to "allow passengers to deplane following excessive delays."
Notice that it doesn't defines how long constitutes "an extended period of time" or an "excessive delay." What's more, should the airlines and airports fail to file (or, in the case of an incident, abide by) such plans, the Secretary of Transportation may simply "assess a civil penalty." That's all.
Maybe we should be happy over this slight progress. The bill also includes provisions to address noise and congestion issues as well, an amendment ordering the Secretary of Transportation to institute a consumer complaint hotline, and supposedly contains enough funding to start modernizing the antiquated air traffic control system that is contributing to air flight delays.
Meanwhile, the White House has threatened to veto the bill, and the Senate is working on its own version. Complaining about the state of air travel won't get you very far. The only chance to change the system is when the laws governing it are being written, so if any of you frequent fliers out there feel the House version isn't up to snuff, maybe now is the right time to write to your Senator.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
