Advocacy Group Gives Airlines An 'F' For Strandings

Give 'em an "F" -- for failing to deliver even basic services to stranded passengers. That's the message Kate Hanni, founder of the consumer advocacy group Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, had for several US airlines Wednesday... but the Air Transport Association, lobbying group for the nation's major carriers, said those statements are unfair.

In a news conference in Washington, DC, CAPBOR bestowed its 2007 "report card" for airlines, regarding their overall treatment of stranded passengers. ExpressJet, Continental, Delta, and US Airways all received failing grades, according to news reports.

"They don't have to give you water, food, anything. They don't have to let you off the plane at all. That's less rights than a prisoner of war in the Geneva Convention," said Hanni. "Incredibly, prisoners of war have more rights than passengers on a commercial airliner."

Only two airlines, AirTran and Southwest, received B's on the coalition's report card, according to WRC-TV in Washington, DC. Northwest Airlines was acknowledged for having relatively few strandings over four hours in 2007, with three; Southwest had nine, but took steps to alleviate passenger grief.

Hanni also took issue with the Department of Transportation's practice of not counting runway waits that ended in flight cancellations, or diversions to other airports, in its own figures for passenger strandings. That meant the notorious Valentines Day 2007 strandings of 11 JetBlue flights weren't counted toward official figures.

DOT also does not include strandings of international flights in its domestic airline tallies. CAPBOR seeks to change that, Hanni said.

The ATA -- which has long opposed the kind of legislation called for by CAPBOR, that would penalize airlines at the federal level for passenger strandings -- said Hanni has made unsubstantiated claims, that aren't helping the situation.

"The airline industry is well aware of the serious, but complex problem of extended flight delays," an ATA statement read, according to Dow Jones Newswires. "More, of course, needs to be done to resolve the core issue of delays that result from our increasingly antiquated air traffic management system."

"Steps have been taken at the individual carrier level as well as in concert with other stakeholders in the airport and government communities to address these challenges," the association added.

The real solution to such problems, the lobbying group maintains, will come with the total refurbishment of what ATA considers an antiquated air traffic control system... not from more legislation, or well-publicized 'report cards.'

Hanni -- who was stuck with her family onboard a diverted American Airlines jet for nine hours, returning home from a Christmas 2006 trip -- responds airlines must know they will be held accountable for their actions... and that even if circumstances are beyond their control, airlines must still provide basic needs for their customers.

FMI: Read The Report Card (.pdf), www.airlines.org