Whether you’ve simply been stranded on the tarmac for hours at a time or your life has been affected by an unforeseen airplane crash or accident, we can all agree that something needs to be done to protect passengers. In fact, ask your co-workers or friends and you’re sure to hear one or several airline nightmare stories. So perhaps the time for a Passenger’s Bill of Rights has arrived. Over ten years in the making, The Passenger’s Bill of Rights is either the best thing to happen to air travel since honey roasted peanuts or it is a classic case of “too little, too late.” It all depends on whom you ask.
The bill of rights, endorsed and pushed by President Obama, restricts airlines from keeping passengers tapped on a grounded flight for more than three hours and mandates that the airlines must provide adequate food, water and restrooms for all passengers on board. Airlines who choose to ignore the new rules, which are expected to go into affect on April 29th, will be slapped with a steep $27,000 fine. Frequent fliers are clearly the ones who stand to gain here as do aviation crash attorneys if the airlines do not play by the rules. Many business travelers have long waited for changes in the industry and have wasted too many hours stuck somewhere when they could be working or returning home. Others, though, think these changes aren’t enough, and the protections for passengers need to go even further.
The airlines, as you can imagine, are none too thrilled with The Passenger’s Bill of Rights. Many airlines, like Southwest, have already begun fighting back by implementing premature cancellations of scheduled flights during harsh weather conditions to avoid a possible fine in the future. This is sure to cause even more drama at the already anxiety-infused airports of today. The debate of what exactly is best for travelers is sure to rage on over the next several months.
