Still moving in the U.S. House of Representatives is a bill that would require airlines to pay passengers two times the value of their tickets if passengers are kept waiting on runways for two hours. The pay-out increases to three
Still moving in the U.S. House of Representatives is a bill that would require airlines to pay passengers two times the value of their tickets if passengers are kept waiting on runways for two hours.
The pay-out increases to three times the ticket value for three-hour delays, and four times the ticket value for four-hour delays, according to provisions in the proposed Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 1999.
The legislation, introduced two years ago by former congressman Bud Shuster of Pennsylvania when he was chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has the support of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink (D-2nd District).
Many ASTA-member agencies closed their offices Thursday for two hours while agents made calls to senators and representatives to show their continued support for the bill and other consumer travel legislation now pending in Congress.
Lynne Sasaki Matsumura, president of Universal Tour and Travel, Inc. in Lihu’e, said she has been writing representatives asking their support for the passenger-rights legislation since the bill was introduced.
Other key provisions of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights include:
– Mandating that airlines explain reasons for flight delays.
– Banning the use of a single flight number when airlines know a change of aircraft is scheduled.
– Requiring refunds to passengers when flights are canceled for economic reasons (because they’re not full enough for the airline to make enough money).
– Requiring airlines to make good-faith efforts to return lost luggage and other items when passengers’ names are on the items.
– Prohibiting security screeners from separating parents from children under the age of 2 without parental consent.
– Requiring airlines to disclose which other carriers will be used in “code-share” flights. (For example, a United Airlines flight from Portland, Ore. to Lihu’e might show a United flight number for the Honolulu-to-Lihu’e segment, when that final leg is actually an Aloha Airlines flight).
– Prohibiting airlines from penalizing passengers who use only portions of purchased tickets (one way of a round-trip ticket, for example).
– Making airlines reveal, upon request, the number or percentage of seats available on a flight to passengers wishing to use frequent-flyer points (or miles).
– Requesting a U.S. Department of Transportation study of airline supervision policies for children traveling alone.
The ASTA action Thursday was also to provide information to consumers and the media about the latest cuts in commissions airlines pay to travel agents who book air travel for their clients, and the impacts of those cuts on agents and the traveling public.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
