Clinton administration proposes passenger rights legislation
House subcommittee hears from disgruntled passengers
March 10, 1999
Web posted at: 2:59 p.m. EDT (1459 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore proposed
broader rights for air passengers during a White House event Wednesday, including higher compensation for botched trips and greater disclosure
of airline policies.
The administration proposals came just hours after the House aviation subcommittee opened hearings on an airline passengers' bill of rights.
Gore and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater cited some passenger frustrations in their presentation of the proposal, including flight cancellations, lost luggage and being stuck on the tarmac.
"I remember reading about one family that spent eight hours stranded on a runway as they tried to get home for Christmas," said Gore.
Proposal would double compensation for bumped passengers
The proposed administration legislation would require airlines to double minimum compensation for passengers bumped from
oversold flights from $400 to $800 and double the minimum reimbursement for lost baggage.
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INVOLUNTARY BUMPS (1998)
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Airline |
Rate Per 10,000 passengers |
Involuntary bumps |
TWA |
2.61 | 6,039 | | Southwest | 1.73 | 10,230 | | Alaska | 1.40 | 1,822 | | Delta | 1.31 | 13,449 | | America West | 1.14 | 2,074 | | Source: U.S. D.O.T. |
It would also make airlines publicly disclose policies
on flight cancellations and provisions for handling
delays, and file monthly reports on passenger
complaints. Those reports would be made available to the public.
"We're not trying to regulate this problem to death," said Gore. "We're trying to flood it with the light of information and let the forces of competition solve this problem in the most efficient way possible. Why can't there be a little
bit more competition based, not just on the fare, but on the quality of the
service?"
Among other proposals in the administration's plan, airlines would be required to:
Provide notices on the lowest fares available for a flight
To hold reservations 48 hours before payment is required
Specify an employee responsible for responding to complaints and respond to all written
complaints within 60 days
Provide refunds within a
specific time limit
Do everything possible to
return lost baggage within 24 hours
The Transportation Department has said it received
9,606 complaints about airlines in 1998, a 25 percent
increase from 1997. During the same period, the number
of passengers on major U.S. airlines rose to an
estimated 615 million from 600 million.
But House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, said the administration's approach to the problem would bring higher ticket prices.
"Low airfares are giving more people than ever access to affordable travel," Armey said in a statement. "Costly new regulations will only force airlines to raise fares and will ground travelers who can't afford higher rates."
Congress considering its own plans
Congress already is considering two bills to protect passenger rights.
The momentum for government intervention was accelerated by recent
incidents involving major airlines.
Last month, hundreds of thousands of passengers were
inconvenienced or stranded by a pilot work slowdown at
American Airlines.
And in January, Northwest Airlines passengers sat for up
to eight hours inside planes in Detroit during
a snowstorm. Passengers from those flights testified before the House aviation subcommittee on Wednesday.
"I had one box of crackers on me," passenger Judy Hopp told the subcommittee, "and I waited until my kids were
telling me they were absolutely starving before I finally brought it out. There was
a family behind me with three children, and I explained to my daughter that we had
to share.... We were total time
on the tarmac seven-and-a-half hours. Total time on the aircraft itself was nine-and-a-half hours."
"My
plane was the fourth plane to land in Detroit. And I believe the passengers on
my flight were very civilized; they were very helpful, they wanted very much to
be patient with what is going on, but we were not getting good information," said passenger Barbara Plecas.
Some air-travel groups have expressed concern that
financial penalties could compromise safety by
encouraging airlines to disregard potential problems
that would delay a flight.
Reuters Limited contributed to this report.
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