Putting Passenger Rights in First Class
Rep. Lloyd Doggett
Customer service on has been in a tailspin most of the year. In
December 2006, one plane sat on the runway at Austin-Bergstrom
International Airport for over nine hours. Austin is the “Live Music
Capital of the World,” and nine hours visiting our unique city should be
fun. But not when you’re locked up on smelly plane, baking on the
airport tarmac. Now passengers are beginning to hold airlines
accountable. Recently, I took part in the first ever “Strand-In” of
airline passengers in our Nation’s Capital. This event was designed to
highlight the plight of passengers who have been locked up on planes for
hours.
This aviation crisis is worse than stranded passengers and lost bags.
Today, there are three types of flights: arrivals, departures, and
cancellations. Despite news of increasingly more outrageous abuse of
paying passengers, the response has been dithering, delays, and denial.
Fortunately, Congress has begun to act. The U.S. House of
Representatives has passed an airport funding measure that includes some
modest consumer protections for airline passengers. This legislation
requires airlines and airports to release passengers after excessive
delays, and provide passengers with food, clean drinking water, usable
bathrooms, proper ventilation and medical care during delays. These
initial reforms are as modest as a bag of peanuts, but are a long
overdue start in holding airlines accountable.
As a “Doggett,” I know the difference between a lap dog and a watch dog
– and a large part of the problem is that the Department of
Transportation has shown the same indifference to the needs of the
flying public as have the airlines. I have sponsored a more
comprehensive set of consumer protections known as the Airline
Passengers Bill of Rights. This stronger legislation would require
airlines to monitor their chronically delayed flights and inform
customers of the on-time performance of their flight whenever a customer
makes a reservation or purchases a ticket. If a flight loses a bag, the
airline shall make every reasonable effort to return the lost luggage to
the passenger within 24 hours.
Travelers from Travis County deserve better than delayed flights and
lost bags. I will continue to ensure that the Department of
Transportation puts the interests of airline passengers first.
Congressman Doggett is a senior member of the House Ways and Means
Committee, the House Budget Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.
