Coalition for “Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights” Outraged by Latest Series of Passengers Stranded Aboard Several American Airlines Jets in Austin

Press Statement

For Immediate Release: Contact: Gil Meneses – 202-445-1570

Coalition for “Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights” Outraged by Latest Series of Passengers Stranded Aboard Several American Airlines Jets in Austin – Held Against Their Will for Up to Six Hours
“Airlines Continue to Defy the Will of the Flying Public, the Federal Government and Members of Congress Who are Fed up with Continuous Lies and Deceptive Tactics. The time for Congress to Pass an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights is Now,” – Kate Hanni, Founder and Executive Director, PBOR.

Napa Valley, CA. (April 25, 2007) – The Coalition for “Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights” (PBOR) issued the following statement from its founder and executive director, Kate Hanni, on reports that passengers aboard several American Airlines flights were trapped for up to six hours at Austin and San Antonio airports on Tuesday. Passenger accounts indicate similar instances of food and water quickly running out, as well as intolerable conditions as a result of unusable toilets.

“On behalf of our 15,000 members worldwide, words cannot begin to describe the outrage and indignation felt after hearing reports of the latest passenger strandings aboard American Airlines jets in Austin. For the flying public it’s deja-vu – no food, no running water, unusable toilets that make six hours trapped on a plane an intolerable and unbearable experience. For the airlines, this is just more of the same utter disregard for the flying public and the will of the federal government and Members of Congress who are demanding that the airlines stop lying to passengers and end their deceptive tactics.

We are encouraged by the Department of Transportation’s plan to investigate the airlines’ unrealistic scheduling and hiding of delay information. These efforts are necessary to prevent additional passengers from becoming trapped victims aboard airplanes as a result of this chronic problem. The airlines must realize that the federal government and Congress are demanding accountability and taking the necessary steps to protect the flying public.

We also applaud the DOT Inspector General’s efforts to enforce laws requiring airlines to publish information on flights that are ‘chronically late’. Airlines must be made to comply with the federal requirements to provide a flight’s on-time performance when requested by a customer.”
###