New Airline Rules Ease Flyer Pain

The Washington Post reports:

DALLAS — Federal officials are expanding a tarmac-delay rule to prohibit airlines from holding passengers on stranded international flights for longer than four hours.

The change stems from a late-December debacle in which several planes loaded with international travelers were stuck for up to 10 hours on snowy New York runways.

That’s one provision in a new passenger-protection rule to be issued Wednesday. The rule also will require airlines to refund bag fees if they lose customers’ luggage, to include fees and taxes in advertised prices, and to pay passengers more if they get bumped from oversold flights.

Most of the new regulations will take effect in four months. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose department will issue the new orders, said they were designed to make sure airlines treat travelers fairly.

“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,” he said.

The new rule expands upon last year’s 3-hour limit on tarmac delays for flights within the U.S. Consumer advocates complained that the rule didn’t cover foreign airlines or international flights operated by U.S. ones, but their protests seemed to be ignored until the December blizzard shut down airports on the East Coast.

Several inbound flights, including ones operated by British Airways and Cathay Pacific, were stranded at New York airports with no chance for passengers to get off the plane for hours.

Transportation Department officials acknowledged the incident was a major factor in their decision to impose a 4-hour limit on tarmac delays for international flights. Airlines that break the rule can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger — more than $10 million for a fully loaded superjumbo jet like an Airbus A380 — although the government has never imposed anything close to the maximum.

Airlines also will be required to provide food, water, working toilets and medical care after two hours.

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