Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights
CandyceStapen
Posted: Mar 20, 07 2:09pm This winter, US Airways held me hostage on the tarmac for more than four hours--not quite the record 10+ hours endured by Jet Blue ticket holders, but enough to make me and everyone else on board miserable. My ordeal, however, had a twist. Just as my one hour and 35 minute flight from Charleston, South Carolina, to Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport entered the "raise your seat backs" mode, the pilot announced that a sudden storm was causing us to be diverted to Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport. We landed safely and everyone felt lucky we weren't in Pittsburgh, a US Airways hub. Since Dulles is just 27 miles from National, the D.C. bound passengers could easily go to their destinations. That is, if we could get off the plane. We couldn't. The pilots came out with a slew of excuses: the storm will end soon; we can't reach anyone on the ground at Dulles; we can't get a People Mover (one of those bus-like contraptions that take passengers from the plane to the terminal); etc. After 90-minutes I began negotiations. I remembered that there was a proposed law that said after two-hours on the tarmac, planes must release passengers. (U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have since proposed a new Bill of Rights in light of the Jet Blue incident.) Both pilots agreed, but kept saying they couldn't get gate clearance. A diabetic woman on board feared going into shock for lack of food; another woman couldn't stop crying because she was missing her niece's funeral. I remained polite but relentless. Eventually, my persistence paid off. When the People Mover finally arrived, half the passengers deplaned. End of torture-by-airline? Not quite yet. Although we were no longer hostages, our bags were. US Airways would not let us retrieve our luggage nor allow our bags to be logged into the lost luggage service for delivery, even if we paid the fees. So what would happen to our luggage? The pilots shrugged, saying the pieces could be stored, stuffed in a corner or blown up as unclaimed. Because I wanted to see my stuff again, I hailed a cab for the hour ride through rush hour traffic to National Airport where I waited for my original flight to land. At least I could open the window and breathe fresh air en route and eat a sandwich at the airport. After Jet Blue's botched customer service during the Valentine's Day snow storm, they drafted a Customer's Bill of Rights. While not great, it's still something. Based on my experience, these are the things I want in a Passenger's Bill of Rights:
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Posted: Mar 21, 07 7:34am
Good for you, Candyce! I'm always surprised in situations like that when passengers seem so docile. I agree there should be a Passenger's Bill of Rights, but failing that individual assertiveness can go a long way.
Just before Christmas my daughter was told she was being involuntarily bumped from a Continental flight to New Orleans, even though she was one of the first passengers to arrive at the airport. The flight was oversold and the computer had arbitrarily picked four people who weren't going to get on. The airline didn't ask for volunteers, because all the later flights were also oversold.
The bumped passengers were rather rudely informed that not only would they not get on the flight, but they wouldn't be compensated either. Cait called me from the airport and I was able to look up the relevant regulations online, which she then quoted to the gate representative. Whereupon the airline did an about face and acknowledged that there would be compensation after all.
She and the other bumped passengers were told they should leave the gate area and go to the service desk, where some kind of arrangements would be made for them. I advised her to stay right where she was, standing by the gate attendants desk, and to politely insist that she be given a seat on the plane. Eventually it worked. There ended up being one seat left and she got it.
Lessons learned:
If you don't want to be involuntarily bumped, check in online before going to the airport.
Know your rights and be prepared to quote them to the gate attendants.
Be polite but persistent; don't back down and especially don't sit down. If you remain standing my the gate attendants' desk you eventually become the squeaky wheel.
Posted: Mar 21, 07 7:56am
Wow, that's great teamwork.
Years ago, I was on a flight to Hong Kong around Chinese New Year (that means you get on your flight or you'll never get on another one -- everything is booked) and they bumped me. I did what your daughter did -- I stood next to the person checking passengers in and tried to be as nice but as assertive as I could about getting back on the flight. In the end, they relented and bumped someone else. I think in these situations, being assertive is important, but also be polite, and treat the airline people as you would like to be treated.
Anyone who has traveled knows that the stress of these situations can bring out the worst in passengers as well.
Posted: Mar 22, 07 7:16am
Good for your daughter! It's so true that you shouldn't move from the gate attendant's desk.
Once, coming back from a ski trip to Colorado with my daughter, the airline had Alissa's reservation but not mine. I was told I couldn't get on the plane. I was more than a little annoyed since I had ripped my knee ligament and cracked the cartilage. Crutches and all, I stood there no matter how many times the attendant told me to move to the side. Eventually, as the line behind me grew and people started to mumble, the agent rebooked me and I got on the plane.
Posted: Mar 21, 07 10:08am
I am reluctant to fly for fear of having the experience you describe. Your bill of rights is just right, simple and basic. Let us off the darn plane!
Posted: Mar 26, 07 3:39pm
My mother was a travel agent, and she once gave me a little booklet put out by the FAA called "Fly Rights." It's hopelessly outdated now, of course--is this what Boxer and Snowe are proposing?
Posted: Mar 29, 07 4:18pm
The heart of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2007 addresses the issue of being held hostage on the tarmac. The bill proposes that passengers must be released after 3 hours in a grounded airplane unless doing so would jeopardize their safety or the plane will take-off within 30-minutes.
I twould be nice if the flying public could get other rights into that bill.