Help on Its Way to Stranded Airline Passengers

Thanks to Action by Senate Commerce Committee

WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — FlyersRights.org, America’s leading consumer organization representing commercial airline passengers, this afternoon hailed action by the Senate Commerce Committee in sending to the floor a version of the FAA Reauthorization bill that includes the bipartisan Boxer-Snowe Airline Passengers Bill of Rights allowing passengers to de-plane from aircraft held on the tarmac for three hours or more.

“This is a great step forward for airline passengers, and the Commerce Committee should be congratulated,” said Kate Hanni, Executive Director of FlyersRights.org, who was herself stranded on the tarmac for 9 hours in 2007 on American Airlines.

Besides requiring airlines to allow passengers the option to de-plane once they have sat on the ground for three hours, the legislation would require airlines to provide passengers with adequate food, drinkable water, working restrooms and comfortable cabin temperature and ventilation. Airports and the airlines they serve would be required to develop contingency plans for delayed flights, which would have to be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and could face fines for not submitting or complying with the plans. In addition, a “Consumer Complaint Hotline” would be established within the Department of Transportation so passengers can alert the agency to delays.

Last year, according to the airlines’ own statistics, there were 1,232 tarmac delays of 3 hours or more. The longest, of more than 10 hours’ duration, involved Delta flight 1201 from Atlanta to Orlando on January 16, 2008. Passengers were denied food, water or temperature controls and reported receiving misleading messages about prospective takeoff times.

Under the Boxer-Snowe proposal, pilots could decide not to allow passengers to deplane if it would pose a risk to passengers’ safety or security, and could delay de-planing for up to 30 minutes beyond the three-hour period if he or she reasonably believes the flight is about to depart within 30 minutes. If passengers opted not to de-plane three hours after the doors are closed, they would be again given the option to de-plane every three hours the plane remains on the ground.

“These reasonable measures will give the airlines maximum flexibility in handling tarmac delays, but will finally force the airlines to treat their passengers as human beings and paying customers – not as cargo,” said Hanni.

SOURCE FlyersRights.org