Passengers walk past a flight status board in Terminal C at Orlando International Airport that shows many delays, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, after the FAA grounded all U.S. flights earlier within the day.
Joe Burbank | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Two Senate Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced laws to strengthen airline passenger protections following a 12 months of travel disruptions that was capped by chaos that stranded hundreds of individuals over the December holidays.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts try to get traction on two bills that aim to hurry up passenger refunds during flight disruptions and tamp down on airline fees that range from seating assignments to checked bags and brought in billions for the airline industry.
The Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also calls for minimum compensation of $1,350 for travelers bumped off of oversold flights. Currently airlines can cap compensation for those delays at $1,550, based on the Transportation Department.
Their try and get the laws approved comes a month after Southwest Airlines canceled some 16,700 flights from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31 after its internal crew rebooking systems were unable to handle quite a few flight changes from bad weather, prompting executives to slash the schedule. Southwest last week said it has processed nearly all reimbursement requests but declined to supply further detail.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is planning to carry a hearing on the newest airline disruptions in the approaching weeks.
The bills also follow a push by the Biden administration for stricter airline passenger rules, including for traveler refunds.
Airlines for America, said its members, the biggest U.S. carriers, “abide by — and steadily exceed – all DOT regulations regarding consumer protections.”
“The proposed policies on this bill — instituting government-controlled pricing, establishing a personal right of motion and dictating private sector contracts — would drastically decrease competition, resulting in a subsequent increase in airfare prices and potential cut in services to small and rural communities,” the industry group said in a press release.