Coalition For An Airline Passengers’ Bill Of Rights
Model State Bill
A. Responsibilities of airlines under certain circumstances Whenever airline passengers have been involuntarily detained on the ground aboard commercial aircraft for more than three hours prior to takeoff or following landing, the airline shall ensure that they are provided as needed with: (1) electric generation service to provide temporary power for climate control and lights; (2) waste removal service in order to service the holding tanks for on-board restrooms; and (3) adequate food and drinking water.
No airline passenger shall be involuntarily confined on the ground aboard a commercial aircraft at any airport within this State for more than 3 hours prior to departure or after arrival, provided, however, that this provision shall not apply if the pilot of such aircraft reasonably determines that such aircraft will depart within not more than 30 minutes next following such 3-hour delay or that permitting a passenger to deplane would jeopardize the safety of the passenger, other passengers or the aircraft.
B. Explanations of rights All airlines operating within this State shall, upon request, provide clear, written explanations of the rights of airline passengers under this Act.
C. Enforcement The Attorney General is hereby authorized to recover from any airline that violates this Act, a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per passenger per violation; provided, however, that each continuous period of involuntary detention aboard an aircraft without complying with one or more of the requirements of Paragraph A hereof shall be considered a single violation. Any such penalty shall take into consideration any compensation paid or offered by the airline to passengers. The civil penalty imposed pursuant to this Paragraph may be sought in a civil action brought by the Attorney General in any court of competent jurisdiction. If the Attorney General prevails in any such civil action, the court may award the Attorney General reasonable attorneys' fees and an amount equal to the ordinary costs and expenses incurred by the Attorney General in investigating and prosecuting the violation, as it deems appropriate. If the Attorney General reaches a settlement with any airline, such settlement shall include an amount at least equal to the ordinary costs and expenses incurred by the Attorney General in investigating and prosecuting the violation.
D. Relationship to Federal Law Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring any airline, airport or other entity to take any action in contravention of any Federal statute or rule or regulation adopted by the United States Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration or any other Federal agency having jurisdiction over such entity.
E. Severability If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this Act is adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder hereof but shall be applied in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part hereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
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6 comments:
You might hear AMR and American Airlines publicly trumpeting "passenger rights" and even highlighting their new position, "Managing Director--Customer Experience," but for a behind-the-scenes reality check, view their departure dependability goals charted in the "employees only" area at LAX:
http://www.ArrogAAnce.com
If passengers are satisfied with 40.2% of AA flights being delayed--then AMR management's passenger service goals have been satisfied.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
I SO hope this bill becomes law. I heard about your site from a friend after posting my story about the ordeal my husband and I went through on a recent flight from Atlanta to San Juan: http://debrichardson.com/blog/?p=1223.
Thank you for trying to do something about this!!
This proposal is doomed from the beginning. In section A the second part, it states that airlines must allow passengers to deplane unless it is unsafe. The person who drafted this should have done some research on how airports and airlines work. Once a plane leaves the terminal, it loses the gate. The plane cannot return to the terminal unless there is an open gate somewhere or it bumps another aircraft out of its gate. This will only cause more delays and headaches especially at the busiest airports. Also, if an airplane were to return to the gate it would lose its place in line to takeoff. So if one passenger demands to get off, guess what, everyone is further delayed and perhaps the flight will just be cancelled outright. This proposal would work if the second part of section A was removed.
After reading the above comments, I think airlines should be forced to have "emergency gates" also to just allow people to deplane. If you keep a few of these at each airport the airplane should be able to park and leave in just a few minutes.
I also would like to have the so called clause of wheather removed from relieving airlines from PAYING for hotels. We are YOUR customers PAY UP and take care of us.
Finally, the worst offending airlines should have their business licenses revoked after three incidents of holding passengers hostage on an airplane for more than two hours.
This proposed law makes perfect sense at the Federal level - even if the airlines dislike it.
For a State law along these lines to be constitutional and not encroach on Federal jurisdiction, the law would need to not address airlines specifically, since a NY court has already rules that such laws must be Federal. However, similar language that prohibited any business from keeping any client in any confined space within State boundaries without adequate sanitation, food, and water for over three hours should be both constitutional and an excellent idea. Airlines, bus stations, even Doctor's waiting rooms need to address keeping clients over 3 hours.
These idot lawmakers are of course aware that Airlines are not subject to silly State laws right? New York just tried the same thing and the Federal Courts thumped them. Might as well stop right now and save the CO2 emissions.
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