Prospects Improve for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights

Congress doesn't want to go home this year without taking action on this volatile issue.

By Martha Lynn Craver, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

September 22, 2008

Passage of a bill of rights for airline passengers is a good bet before Congress adjourns early next month. The legislation has been held up for months, but with the election looming, House and Senate backers believe they'll be able to attach the plan to a spending bill or some other piece of legislation certain to get passed this year. Lawmakers facing reelection don't want to face voters without approving a bill.

The bill will force airlines and airports to have emergency plans in place to ease the pain of long delays. The blueprints, which must be approved in advance by the secretary of transportation, must detail how food, water, bathroom facilities, cabin ventilation and medical care will be provided for passengers who are on planes for an extended period. The plans must also spell out how facilities and gates will be shared. Fines for noncompliance will be detailed in regulations issued by the Transportation Department.

The bill is a milder version of legislation first introduced in 2007. That bill, sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) would have allowed passengers the option of leaving a plane if it was held sitting on the ground for three hours or more. Many in the industry argued that provision could have unintended consequences, such as forcing a plane to leave the runway, even if it's next in line for takeoff.

The clamor for a passengers' bill of rights followed several incidents at airports where travelers were forced to remain on planes for as long as 11 hours. A spirited citizens group formed, the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, to push for legislation at both the state and federal levels. New York state enacted such a law, and several other states were actively considering the issue when the New York law was overturned by the courts. Some individual carriers have taken action on their own. JetBlue, for example, pledged to pay penalties to passengers for some delays.

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