I just finished chatting with Dept. of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, and of course one of the topics we touched on was the zooming price of oil; “I’m no expert on that,” she said, but “I have a feeling that oil prices will stabilize this summer.” We can only hope so. She did announce some news to the handful of air travel bloggers who were invited to meet with her (yours truly included); here are some of the highlights (and you can see them all, here): BAGGAGE FEES - Peters doesn’t want passengers to be surprised at the airport with hefty baggage fees, so, the DOT is calling for carriers and travel agents “to disclose baggage fees in their internet and print ads before anyone purchases a ticket.” Also, the DOT says “airlines may not impose increased fees or new restrictions for baggage after a passenger has [already] bought a ticket.” Coming up — the FAA/American mess, and delays — so keep reading!

Here is the rest of the news Peters announced today:

• FAA - In the wake of American’s mass flight cancellations to comply with uncompleted FAA safety checks, Peters reasserted that the FAA is in charge of safety, but she is asking both the FAA and the airlines to “review communications protocols to make sure that significant safety decisions are made using a clearly documented process.” It is hoped this will avoid future messes like the American snafu.

• DELAYS - The DOT is issuing a final rule “to require airlines to report new and more complete data on the time passengers spend on the tarmac.” This will help the DOT determine how long a plane sits on the tarmac — and provide this information to the public.

• NEWARK AIRPORT - Today, the DOT is issuing its final order for Newark Liberty Airport to temporarily cap flights at an average of 83 scheduled flights per hour during the peak periods (and this order extends to through October, 2009). These caps are not requiring service cuts at Newark. Rather, airlines will be able to shift their flights to times of the day when Newark has unused capacity.

Watch this space for more posts on my day in DC.