And Chastens Lawmakers For Failure To Act On Bill Of Rights

In addition to her recommendation the FAA and the airlines it oversees communicate better in regards to what constitutes acceptable compliance with airworthiness directives, US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters had another (and arguably more substantive) announcement to make Friday: that per a new federal rule, airlines must now report new and more complete data on the time passengers spend on the tarmac.

Peters noted in the past, airlines often were not required -- nor particularly inclined -- to disclose how long aircraft were delayed after leaving the gate. The new final rule, implemented Friday, will require airlines to provide complete on-time and tarmac delay data about flights that may depart from a gate more than once, flights that are cancelled after having left the gate and flights that are diverted to another airport.

"Passengers should know whether it will take as long for their flight to get to the runway as it will to land at their destination," Peters said.

The new ruling met with strong approval from the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, which has fought against airline groundings since founder Kate Hanni and dozens of other American Airlines flyers were trapped for hours on the ground in Austin, TX in December 2006.

"Today’s DOT Announcement is a small but important victory for airline travelers who’ve found themselves stuck on the tarmac on a diverted or canceled flight," Hanni said. "At least the Government will force the airlines to document and report these incidences where people leave the gate and fly at tarmac level for hours on end.   Our Coalition discovered that diverted and canceled flights were not counted for 'Time on the Tarmac' and we can take credit for this victory."

Hanni also took the opportunity to lambaste lawmakers in the US Senate, for their partisan-toned failure to make progress on its FAA funding bill, which included language to add the very bill of rights her group has called for.

"It’s important to recognize that we have been down this road before with this administration -- today’s DOT announcement is no exception," Hanni said. "Although any improvement that DOT puts in place to help passengers is a step in the right direction, it simply does not go far enough in meeting the very basic needs of protecting and legal rights for the flying public.

"We want to thank Secretary Peters, but the flying public still deserves better," Hanni added. "We will not rest until Congress gives the flying public basic rights and protections in the form of a passenger’s bill of rights that includes 3 hours for deplanement, food, potable water and hygienic toilets during delays."

FMI: www.dot.gov, www.flyersrights.org