Mar 27, 2008
The strike down of New York's passenger rights laws should cause us all to pressure Congress to act nationally
You really need to have experienced four or more hours in an airplane stuck on the tarmac, as I have, to fully appreciate how badly legislation is needed to prevent that happening to you. It is a frightening and claustrophobic time that causes great distress, and yet the possibility is quite realistic: several hundreds of flights were affected in that manner in 2007, and the numbers don't even include the flights that were later cancelled.
The airlines, with their eyes on the bottom line, thinking only of the cost of taxiing the plane back to the gate and permitting passengers to disembark, will never correct the situation of their own volition. They have to be forced to do so by law. And since a Federal Court of Appeals has now ruled (as they did this week) that the individual states may not pass laws regulating the airlines in this manner, our recourse must be to Congress. The Federal Government is clearly entitled to establish one uniform standard for the entire country.
In my view, they should not adopt New York State's fuzzy and now-defeated edict that the airlines guarantee the availability of fresh air, water, food and toilets to the passengers on stranded planes. They should set down a clear and automatic requirement that any plane stranded for four hours must be returned to the gate and passengers permitted to disembark.
And you know what? The airlines will find that a four-hour requirement is to everyone's benefit, the airlines' as well as the public's. You can contribute to such a result by contacting your representatives in Congress and urging them to act on this matter.
Write and read comments about this post.
The airlines, with their eyes on the bottom line, thinking only of the cost of taxiing the plane back to the gate and permitting passengers to disembark, will never correct the situation of their own volition. They have to be forced to do so by law. And since a Federal Court of Appeals has now ruled (as they did this week) that the individual states may not pass laws regulating the airlines in this manner, our recourse must be to Congress. The Federal Government is clearly entitled to establish one uniform standard for the entire country.
In my view, they should not adopt New York State's fuzzy and now-defeated edict that the airlines guarantee the availability of fresh air, water, food and toilets to the passengers on stranded planes. They should set down a clear and automatic requirement that any plane stranded for four hours must be returned to the gate and passengers permitted to disembark.
And you know what? The airlines will find that a four-hour requirement is to everyone's benefit, the airlines' as well as the public's. You can contribute to such a result by contacting your representatives in Congress and urging them to act on this matter.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: rights
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
