An Exercise in Persistence

FlyersRights.org is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization about the noble work of advocating before all three branches of the U.S. federal government for the rights and interests of airline passengers.

In addition to issuing research and policy papers, conducting surveys, sponsoring online petitions, maintaining an active website and social media presence, providing expert advice on aviation consumer issues to public policy makers and opinion leaders, and engaging in public education activities, FlyersRights.org operates a toll-free telephone Hotline, an email helpline for individual air travelers, and a website with a 'Know Your Rights' online guide.

In 2009, FlyersRights became nationally known after the organization initiated and championed the passage of the Three-Hour Rule—a U.S. Department of Transportation-supported mandate requiring all airlines operating in the United States to deplane passengers in the event a tarmac delay exceeds three hours.

In 2020, following the infamous 2019 losses of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, FlyersRights.org filed a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking to plumb the apparently slipshod fashion after which Boeing’s 737 MAX narrow-body airliner was vetted by both the plane-maker and the FAA and ultimately granted FAA Type Certification.

Comes now 2023, and FlyersRights.org has submitted its reply brief to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in its FOIA case, which seeks to obtain information pertaining to the fixes the FAA ostensibly approved for the Boeing 737 MAX and the results of subsequent flight tests and safety analyses. The case is scheduled for oral argument on 20 April 2023.

FlyersRights.org president Paul Hudson stated: "Boeing's culture of concealment struck again. Independent experts remain unable to determine if the Boeing 737 MAX, whose original certification is alleged by the Department of Justice to be a product of a criminal conspiracy, is safe to fly. In the aftermath of the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people, Boeing CEOs and FAA Administrators made numerous transparency pledges at Congressional hearings. Shockingly, the FAA is arguing that these promises were 'vague' and 'not meant to be relied upon.'"

Mr. Hudson added: "In essence, the FAA argues that these public transparency pledges are, and should be interpreted by Boeing as, mere puffery."

FlyersRights.org’s brief argued that Boeing ought have understood the requested documents would be subject to public disclosure under FOIA. The organization argued that alternate means of compliance are FAA working law, and keeping subject means of compliance a secret amounts to the FAA operating a body of secret law. Finally, the brief contended that the FAA did not properly segregate information that could be released from information that the FAA determined would be withheld.

FMI: www.flyersrights.org