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Internet Travel Monitor - Events & Legislation
May 30, 2007
Fliers' Rights Bill Comes Under Fire
Proposal Too Weak, Critics Say
WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer advocates pushing legislation to prevent lengthy airline delays on the ground say the latest version of the so-called Passenger Bill of Rights has been so weakened that it may actually undercut efforts to protect fliers.
Paul Hudson, who heads the Aviation Consumer Action Project, said the bill would do more harm than good and he now opposes the legislation unless it can be changed.
"This would seem to give a green light legalizing very long airline confinements," Hudson said.
Kate Hanni, a California realtor-turned-advocate after her flight was delayed for eight hours last December, said she is pressing senators to change the legislation. Hanni stopped short of condemning the entire bill, saying it has enough new passenger protections to make it a partial victory.
Earlier this month, the Senate aviation subcommittee approved an omnibus aviation bill that included provisions protecting passengers in the event of long delays. It required airlines to let passengers off of aircraft that have been held on the tarmac for longer than 3 1/2 hours.
However, the new legislation gave airlines an exemption from the requirement. They will not face a deadline if they draw up a plan for how to deal with lengthy ground delays and file it with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The airline industry opposes restrictions on delays, arguing that some provisions could force them to cancel flights and cause more passenger disruptions. Airlines should "be given the flexibility to operate under their own plans for addressing extreme weather delays without compromising passenger safety or creating further inconvenience," said David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association.
All 12 of ATA's member airlines have already filed plans on how to handle lengthy delays with the Transportation Department, Castelveter said.
Several lawmakers proposed passenger protections this year after JetBlue Airways and American Airlines kept passengers aboard jets on the ground for up to eight hours during bad storms.
Passengers involved in those incidents and consumer advocates say that federal laws are needed to prevent airlines from keeping people confined on aircraft for too long and to require that passengers are given food and water during lengthy delays.
The Senate bill includes requirements that airlines provide food, water and emergency medical treatment during lengthy delays.
The House transportation committee and its aviation subcommittee have not approved a similar measure, and the chairmen of the committees have said they would prefer to handle the problem without legislation.
Some airline experts say they expected Congress to tone down the proposals.
Jon Ash, an airline consultant with InterVISTAS-ga2 Consulting, said it is appropriate for Congress to put pressure on airlines to provide better customer service, but he doubted that a law could be crafted that could account for the huge complexity of airline schedules.
"You're probably going to end up creating more problems than you're going to solve," Ash said.
Copyright 2007 Florida Today. All rights
reserved. From http://www.floridatoday.com. By Alan Levin.
To view the Internet Travel Monitor Archive, click http://www.tripinfo.com/ITM/index.html.
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