U.S. Dept. of Transportation Extends Airline Passenger Protections

Be advised…

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Transportation Secretary  Ray LaHood has announced new airline passenger protections that will require  airlines to reimburse passengers for bag fees if their bags are lost, provide  consumers involuntarily bumped from flights with greater compensation, expand  the current ban on lengthy tarmac delays, and disclose hidden fees.  The rulemaking finalized today builds on  passenger protections issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation in  December 2009, which prohibited U.S.  airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on  the tarmac for more than three hours, with exceptions for safety, security and  air traffic control related-reasons.  The  rule also required U.S.  airlines to provide basic services such as access to lavatories and water in  the event of extended tarmac delays.

“Airline  passengers have a right to be treated fairly,” said Secretary LaHood.  “It’s just common sense that if an airline  loses your bag or you get bumped from a flight because it was oversold, you should  be reimbursed. The additional passenger protections we’re announcing today will  help make sure air travelers are treated with the respect they deserve.”

Lost Bags and  Bag Fees. Airlines will now be required to refund any fee for carrying a bag if the bag  is lost.  Airlines will also be required  to apply the same baggage allowances and fees for all segments of a trip,  including segments with interline and code share partners.  Airlines are already required to compensate  passengers for reasonable expenses for loss, damage or delay in the carriage of  passenger baggage.

Full Disclosure  of Additional Fees. Airlines will also have to prominently  disclose all potential fees on their websites, including but not limited to  fees for baggage, meals, canceling or changing reservations, or advanced or  upgraded seating.   In addition, airlines  and ticket agents will be required to refer passengers both before and after  purchase to up-to-date baggage fee information, and to include all government  taxes and fees in every advertised price.   Previously, government taxes and fees were not required to be included  in the up-front fare quotation.

In  addition, the rule announces that the Department will issue a supplemental  notice of proposed rulemaking later this year that would require, among other  things, that ancillary fees be displayed at all points of sale.

Bumping.   Today’s rule doubles the amount of  money passengers are eligible to be compensated for in the event they are  involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight.   Currently, bumped passengers are entitled to cash compensation equal to  the value of their tickets, up to $400, if the airline is able to get them to  their destination within a short period of time (i.e., within 1 to 2 hours of  their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights and 1 to 4 hours  of their originally scheduled arrival time for international flights).  Bumped passengers are currently entitled to  double the price of their tickets, up to $800, if they are delayed for a  lengthy period of time (i.e., over two hours after their originally scheduled  arrival time for domestic flights and over 4 hours after their originally  scheduled arrival time for international flights).  Under the new rule, bumped passengers subject  to short delays will receive compensation equal to double the price of their  tickets up to $650, while those subject to longer delays would receive payments  of four times the value of their tickets, up to $1,300.  Inflation  adjustments will be made to those compensation limits every two years.

Tarmac Delays. The new rule  expands the existing ban on lengthy tarmac delays to cover foreign airlines’  operations at U.S. airports  and establishes a four hour hard time limit on tarmac delays for international  flights of U.S. and foreign  airlines, with exceptions allowed only for safety, security or air traffic  control-related reasons.   Carriers must  also ensure that passengers stuck on the tarmac are provided adequate food and  water after two hours, as well as working lavatories and any necessary medical  treatment.       The  extended tarmac delays experienced by passengers on international flights  operated by foreign carriers at New York’s JFK Airport during the December 2010  blizzard was an important factor in the Department’s decision to extend the  tarmac delay provisions to foreign air carriers and establish a four hour  tarmac delay limit for international flights.

The  Department of Transportation’s rule will make air travel simpler and easier in  a number of other ways, including:

• Requiring  airlines to allow reservations to be  held at the quoted fare without payment, or cancelled without penalty, for  at least 24 hours after the reservation is made, if the reservation is made one  week or more prior to a flight’s departure date.
• Requiring  airlines to promptly notify consumers of delays of  over 30 minutes, as well as cancellations and diversions.  This notification must take place in the  boarding gate area, on a carrier’s telephone reservation system and on its  website.
• Banning post-purchase  fare increases unless they are due to government-imposed taxes or fees, and only if the  passenger is notified of and agrees to the potential  increase at the time of sale.
• Requiring more  airlines to report lengthy tarmac delays at U.S.  airports with DOT, including data for international flights and charter  flights.  Previously, only the 16 largest  U.S. passenger carriers were  required to file this data, and only for domestic scheduled flights.

Secretary  LaHood announced the first airline consumer protection rule in December 2009,  and that rule has resulted in the near-elimination of lengthy tarmac delays.  Between May 2010 and February 2011, the first full 10 months the rule was in  effect, the largest U.S.  airlines reported only 16 tarmac delays of more than three hours, compared to  664 from May 2009 through February 2010.   The new rule also required these airlines to post on-time performance  information for each domestic flight they or their code-share partners operate.
Most provisions of the rule will  take effect 120 days after its publication in the Federal Register.  The final  rule, proposed rule and comments are available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov, docket  DOT-OST-2010-0140.