"Passenger rights gain support"

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Passenger rights gain support
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 Monday.

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 doubling 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% of the time. Airlines could be fined for the
practice.

In May, the DOT warned 20 airlines to quit operating chronically late
flights or face fines later this year. To date, no fines have been levied
against airlines still operating those flights.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the proposed rules "will allow us
to step up oversight of chronically delayed flights and enhance protections
for consumers."

But consumer advocates say the DOT's proposals fall short of what's needed.
They note that a proposed rule requiring a contingency plan for tarmac
delays falls well short of the House bill's proposal. The DOT would not
require those plans to be approved by the government, and violations would
not result in fines for airlines.

Advocate Paul Hudson, head of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, says the
DOT has "defaulted on its responsibility to regulate the industry." Letting
airlines enforce their own rules during extraordinary delays "is letting the
fox run the chicken coop."

Consumer activist Kate Hanni, who spent eight hours trapped on an American
Airlines flight last December, agrees. The DOT's proposal on tarmac delays
"would take us backwards," she says.

Airline passenger complaints to the DOT this year are running 70% ahead of
last year. The department logged 8,612 passenger complaints about U.S.
airline service through September, the latest month for which data are
available. In July and August, the busiest summer travel months, complaints
doubled year-over-year.

The last 12 months have also seen repeated and well-publicized examples of
airline service gaffes, including passenger strandings with planeloads of
people trapped in planes for hours, unable to take off or deplane because of
bad weather, congestion or both.

Secretary Peters is exploring whether the department should hire more
enforcement staff.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., chairman of a House subcommittee that has
held hearings on service this year, said he plans to continue pressuring DOT
to step up consumer protection. "We want to fix the system," he said.

Even the airlines' largest trade organization, the Air Transport
Association, says members are resigned to new regulations.

"We have been preparing for changes," spokesman David Castelveter said.

The airlines have already taken action on some of the proposals, he said,
such as putting contingency plans for tarmac delays in airline contracts of
carriage, which is the basic agreement between travelers and their airlines.


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