"Passenger rights bill lifts off in Senate"

Monday, January 29, 2001

Passenger rights bill lifts off in Senate
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press


WASHINGTON - A senior senator introduced the first of several expected
"passenger rights" bills Monday while declaring that airlines have failed to
improve service voluntarily.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate's second-ranked Democrat, said he is
pushing bills both to improve service and to ensure competitive pricing in
an era of frequent airline mergers.

The Department of Transportation's inspector general is to release a final
report within days on airlines compliance with a 1999 package of voluntary
measures to improve the quality of air travel.

David Barnes, spokesman for the inspector general's office, said the report
would evaluate the airlines both collectively and individually and make
recommendations for improvements.

An interim report the office issued this past summer said the airlines were
trying to pay more attention to customer service, but bottom-line results
were mixed. It noted that complaints about delays, lost luggage, overbooked
flights and other problems were up 74 percent in the first four months of
2000.

The airlines say they are trying to live up to their promises but contend
that delays, the main source of consumer complaints, are more a result of
airports' having insufficient runways or air traffic control systems to cope
with increased air traffic.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has led passenger rights efforts, will
reintroduce legislation after seeing the inspector general's report, his
spokeswoman, Lisa Finkel, said. She said Wyden would work with Reid and
other supporters to get a bill through Congress.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said at a recent confirmation hearing for
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta that he previously opted for delaying
legislation to let the industry come up with voluntary measures but is now
prepared to work with Wyden.

"The marketplace in the air industry is not working properly," Kerry said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Commerce Committee, which
oversees the aviation industry, also will determine whether to move ahead
with legislation after looking at the inspector general's report,
spokeswoman Nancy Ives said.

Reid, joined by representatives of Consumers Union and the American Society
of Travel Agents, said the time has come for legislation against the
airlines, because "it appears they just stalled for a year."

His "Air Travelers Fair Treatment Act" would require airlines to provide
accurate and timely explanations of cancellations and delays, give
passengers the right to exit a plane that has remained at the gate more than
an hour past its scheduled departure, ensure in-flight medical care, give
consumers access to safety records and protect travel agents that offer low
fares from losing contracts.

The "Airline Competition Preservation Act," to go into effect when three or
fewer carriers control 70 percent of the air passenger market, would protect
against unreasonably high fares, prevent unfair practices against new
entrants and encourage increased competition at hubs.

The airlines managed to avoid "passenger rights" legislation in June 1999 by
coming up with a plan that included promises to inform customers of the
lowest fares, provide prompt ticket refunds and notify passengers of known
delays and cancellations.

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