New Passenger Rights Laws Could Shake Up Aviation

Early Show logoFrom the JetBlue debacle in 2007 to the flight that led Kate Hanni to set up the Coalition for a Passengers Bill of Rights to the most recent example of a Virgin America flight being diverted and then stuck in Newburgh, New York, passengers being trapped on planes has been a growing problem for several years now.

But on April 29, new rules from the Department of Transportation (DOT) will go into effect that may help alleviate this problem.

So what do these new rules say, exactly, and what do they mean for fliers?

Primarily, they make airlines take responsibility for major ground delays with the threat of steep fines from the DOT.

The new rules allow fines of up to $27,000 per passenger if airlines fail to follow the rules–which means that a plane with just 100 passengers could cost an airline up to $2.7 million.

Landing stripThey also force airlines to adhere to some basic standards of conduct, including requirements to give food and water to passengers stuck for longer than 2 hours, as well as offering requiring the airplane to return to the gate and giving people the option of de-planing after being stuck for more than 3 hours.

While passenger rights advocates had been trying to get reforms like these passed through Congress, that process had been resisted bitterly (and successfully) by the airlines, which are already balking at the new rules.

One previous attempt was the Boxer-Snowe amendment, which Peter and Wall Street Journal travel columnist Scott McCartney discuss here. There was also talk of passing new protections along with the FAA Reauthorization bill in July 2009, but that effort failed as well.

Eventually the Obama administration bypassed Congress and had the DOT implement new rules.

With the new rules, the airlines may have a clear incentive to cancel a flight, rather than risk fines. But Peter thinks this could actually help clear up some of the problems of passengers being trapped, so check out Peter’s report for The Early Show here.

By Matthew Calcara for PeterGreenberg.com.

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