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A lively and somewhat heated discussion occurred while I sat on a panel of distinguished colleagues at Southwest Airlines’ “Media Day”. In my semi-prepared remarks on 2010 travel trends I noted that the chances of lawmakers enacting a “Passenger Bill of Rights” were good and was in favor of something in this area. This seemed to cause quite a stir as both panelists and bystanders began sounding off about the pros and cons of “more government regulation”required by the currently proposed passenger bill of rights — which did not make the final cut on the recent FAA re-authorization legislation. I have to be honest — this is not one of my daily discussion topics — but I have a pretty simple take on the situation and a quick thought on simplifying the current PBOR legislation. Given we are are about to cough up $1,000,000,000,000 on a 3-page financial bailout bill likely to pass today (yes I know the pork has made it more pages) — I suggest a 1 line passenger bill of rights:
I don’t care if the passengers choose the head of the FAA, airport Chairman, airline CEO or pilot — even if it is just the county lockup for the night — somehow I think we might have one occurrence of the situation and thereafter, magically someone would figure out how to slide up some stairs and get stranded people off a stuck aircraft … |
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With nearly 8 million commercial flight operations each year, the number of tarmac delays exceeding three hours is infinitesimal. Of that extremely small number, it is seldom that on board service is as horrific as so frequently alleged by some consumer advocates. The airlines are making great progress in improving on board services during lengthy ground delays. A DOT commissioned tarmac-delay task force comprising airlines, airports, government and consumer groups has just concluded many months of work on this issue and soon a report will be provided to DOT with the group’s recommendations (contingency plans) on ways to improve service when there is a lengthy on board delay. Today, DOT and FAA have oversight responsibilities. Legislation of customer service is not the answer. Unfortunately, those who want you to believe that every air travel experience is a bad one are unwilling to face the true — that air service is improving. Legislation of customer service will have unintended consequences and ones that would not be kindly accepted by travelers. The last thing I want is to be stranded at an airport overnight, or to lengthen the time of delay because of some inflexible rule that forces a return to the gate at an artificially established time line.
Comment by DAC — October 3, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
The above comment sounds as if it were written by a lawyer for the airlines, with a bogus “personal statement” at the end to make it seem more “human.” But at least the airlines are thinking of solutions and the bigger the threat of “regulation,” the more they appear to be brainstorming.
Comment by Chris — October 7, 2008 @ 5:06 am
[...] Disgraceful. And so is the fact that a recent recommendation regarding a passenger bill of rights called for no maximum time limits for keeping passengers on a grounded airplane. [...]
Pingback by RickSeaney.com » Stuck on the Tarmac for 9 Hours — Passenger Bill of Rights, Anyone? — December 2, 2008 @ 12:49 pm