BigNews.Biz - Jun 02,2010 - (From PoliticalNews.me)
Washington, D.C. -
U .S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today applauded the announcement by Secretary Ray LaHood that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed additional consumer protections for air travelers, building upon the DOT’s recent rule allowing passengers the option of deplaning an aircraft if it has been stranded for more than three hours on the tarmac. The DOT proposal, which would expand on the Boxer-Snowe Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, would:
• increase compensation for passengers involuntarily bumped from flights
• allow passengers to make and cancel reservations within 24 hours without penalty
• require full and prominently displayed disclosure of baggage fees as well as refunds and expense reimbursement when bags are not delivered on time
• require fair price advertising
• prohibit price increases after a ticket is purchased
• mandate timely notice of flight status changes
Senator Snowe said, “I could not be more pleased that the Department of Transportation has proposed these additional protections. They are very much in the spirit of the Passenger Bill of Rights, which Senator Boxer and I developed over the course of several years of bipartisan effort. I commend the Department for taking these steps in the name of passenger rights. When implemented, this vital rule will build upon the great strides made with the passage of the FAA Reauthorization Bill and further assure airline passengers that they will no longer become prisoner to the egregious practices that catered to the airline’s bottom line rather than to their travelers.”
Senator Boxer said, “This proposal builds on the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights which Senator Snowe and I wrote to address the disrespectful way airline passengers are treated all too often. This rule will add even more protections for consumers, and we are very pleased to see that passengers are finally getting the treatment they deserve.”
Senators Snowe and Boxer first introduced the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights in 2007 following several incidents at airports where passengers were forced to remain on airplanes for as long as 11 hours. The bipartisan legislation ensures that – at a minimum – travelers are not unnecessarily trapped on airplanes for dangerous periods of time and deprived of food, water, or functioning restrooms. Provisions of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights introduced by Senators Boxer and Snowe recently passed the Senate 93-0 as part of the broader FAA Reauthorization bill.
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