Public Affairs Resources

Shuster Introduces Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

10-Point Plan to Include Compensation Provision for Passengers Stuck on Runways

Washington ­ Rep. Bud Shuster, Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, today unveiled legislation to grant airline passengers a number of protections in dealing with the airline industry including a requirement that airlines reimburse passengers held on runways for more than two hours.

"I hope this legislation serves as a wake-up call to the airline industry," Shuster said. "As industry profits soar, so do the number of passenger complaints. The airlines must refocus their efforts on providing better customer service. They need to start treating their passengers like human beings." Shuster said.

According to the Department of Transportation, the number of passenger complaints per 100,000 passengers boarding was 26 percent higher in 1998 than the year before.

"It is possible to remain profitable and provide solid customer service," Shuster said. "Southwest Airlines had the fewest complaints recorded at .025 per 100,000 passengers while the rest of the industry averaged a score four times higher. Southwest Airlines should be commended and the other airlines should work harder at providing good customer service."

Shuster said his legislation is designed to encourage better service and make the airlines more responsible to their passengers. Included in the legislation is a provision that requires airlines to compensate passengers stuck on runways for two or more hours. The bill will also provide consumers with additional information in dealing with airlines, requiring them to explain why flights are cancelled or delayed and inform passengers how many seats are available for use by those redeeming frequent flyer awards.

A Summary of the Legislation is Attached

Summary of the Shuster Passenger Bill of Rights

· Requires airlines to pay compensation to passengers if they are kept waiting on the runway for more than 2 hours either prior to takeoff or after landing. The compensation would be twice the value of the ticket and would increase proportionally as the wait lengthens. Compensation would triple at 3 hours, quadruple at 4 hours, etc. Departure delays attributable to air traffic control would not require compensation from the carrier.

· Prohibits an airline from using a single flight number to denote a flight that it knows will involve a change of aircraft. The penalty would be multiplied by the number of passengers on the flight.

· Requires an airline to explain the reasons for a delay, cancellation, or diversion to a different airport and penalizes the airline, not the employee, if the explanation is false or misleading. The penalty is multiplied by the number of passengers on the flight.

· Requires airlines to refund the money of any passenger on a flight that is cancelled for economic reasons. Requires airlines to report all cancellations to DOT including the flight number, departure time, and load factor of the flight cancelled. DOT must review reports submitted and determine whether a pattern of canceling a specific flight exists or of canceling flights with low load factors (under 30 percent). If DOT finds that a flight was cancelled for economic reasons, passengers on that flight must get their money back.

· Requires airlines to make a good faith effort to return lost property to the owner if the person's name is on the property.

· Prohibits security screeners from separating babies from their parents.

· In cases where airlines share their two letter designator code on a flight (code-sharing), requires airlines to notify passengers if they will not actually be flying on the airline whose code is being used.

· Directs airlines not to prohibit or charge an additional fee to passengers who only use a portion of their ticket. This is designed to permit "hidden city" ticketing (where the passenger buys a ticket for a more distant point but gets off the plane at the first stop because the ticket to the more distant point was cheaper) and "back-to-back" ticketing (where the passenger buys two round trip tickets but uses only half of each because doing so takes advantage of the cheaper tickets one can get by staying over a Saturday night.

· Requires airlines to reveal, upon request, the number or percentage of seats that are available for use by those redeeming frequent flyer awards.

· Directs DOT to study and report to Congress on whether airlines are providing adequate supervision of unaccompanied minors on their flights.

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