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Airline Passengers Get Stranded Again

Feds issue weak recommendations for flyers' rights

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 13, 2008

Forming consumer groups, they began lobbying Congress for a "passengers' bill of rights." At a minimum, they declared that passengers should be provided food, water and clean toilet facilities when stranded on the tarmac for hours at a time. What they really wanted, they said, was the right to disembark from the plane if it idled on the tarmac for several hours without taking off.

A government commission was established by the U.S. Transportation Department to study the issue and make recommendations. The panel, which included 16 representatives from the nation's airline, has now issued a series of "suggested guidelines" for the airlines to follow:

• Update passengers delayed on tarmacs every 15 minutes even if there is nothing new to report.

• Provide a secure room for passengers from diverted overseas flights so they can avoid having to go through security checks when reboarding an aircraft to their final destination.

• When practical, refreshments and entertainment should be made available to passengers confined aboard aircraft awaiting takeoff.

• Make reasonable efforts to be keep airplane rest rooms usable.

That's it. No enforcement and no penalties if the "recommendations" aren't followed. It's a far cry from the "passenger bill of rights" legislation introduced in the last session of Congress.

That legislation, which enjoyed bipartisan support, would have required airlines to offer passengers the option of safely leaving a plane they have boarded once that plane has sat on the ground three hours after the plane door has closed. That option would have been provided every three hours that the plane continues to sit on the ground.

The measure would also have required airlines to provide passengers with necessary services such as food, potable water, and adequate restroom facilities while a plane is delayed on the ground.

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