Leaving on a Jet Plane? Rules Are Changed Again

By JILL SCHENSUL

Air passengers, pay attention.

The rules are changing.

Rule 1: Be good or be gone.

Recently, the captain of a Monarch Airlines flight from Manchester, England, to Tenerife, the Canary Islands, made an unscheduled stop on a tiny island en route, to ditch an inebriated passenger. The man had been swearing at the crew, according to the Daily Mail, after they refused him more alcohol.

This was just the most recent in a spate of airplane ousting incidents: a pair of brothers ditched in New Mexico, during a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Philly, and a United Airlines flight that diverted for a landing in Charlotte, N.C., after an unruly passenger lit a cigarette and urinated in the aisle.

Take heed. Behave yourself, unless you really didn’t want to get where you were going to begin with.

Rule 2: Sharp objects bring tradeoffs.

As of Dec. 22, the list of objects banned from planes shrank, when the TSA decided it was OK to let people bring aboard not only their precious lighters (remember, no smoking, even out

side) but a variety of sharp objects such as nail clippers.

Instead, security will start performing more random searches of passengers and their stuff. Some days, at some airports, you may be required to remove your shoes, other days you won’t be. The rule? There are no rules.

Rule 3: Forget about privacy.

As recent events have shown, the government will do whatever prying it takes in the name of national security. Don’t start arguing if they ask at the airport for information about you, your friends and your relatives.

However, if you are willing disclose a variety of personal information, you can get in on the TSA’s Registered Traveler program, which will be offered nationwide June 20.

The TSA will collect personal information including name, address, phone number and date of birth, along with biometric data, including fingerprints and/or an iris scan. A “security assessment” will include, according to the TSA, a check with law enforcement and intelligence sources along with a search for outstanding warrants.

Travelers who are sufficiently trustworthy after the checks will be able to breeze quickly through special security checkpoints after providing their credentials and biometrics scanning. A fee, not yet determined, will be charged for the privilege. For more information, go to tsa.gov/public.

Rule 4: Don’t get used to low fares.

As Independence Air’s recent demise reminds us, price hikes love a void.

When Independence arrived on the scene 18 months ago, offering fares as low as $29 one way, it forced other carriers on the same routes to reduce their fares, too.

Unfortunately, mismanagement, higher fuel costs and, ironically, competition from other low-fare carriers forced Independence out of the running, and analysts predict fares will go up to fill the void it left.

One rule that hasn’t changed, at least for now, is protection for passengers if an airline folds. In November, Congress extended Section 145 of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which gave travelers holding tickets for a defunct airline certain rights.

It specified that airlines flying the same routes as the defunct airline are required to accommodate stranded passengers, on a space- available (standby) basis. The passenger pays a maximum of $50, one way, for a seat on the alternate airline, and has to make alternate arrangements within 60 days of the date service ceased.

Independence Air (flyi.com) says it will request permission from bankruptcy court to refund unused tickets. Passengers who charged their tickets can also request a refund from the issuing card company.

E-mail: schensul@northjersey.com