Releases 2007 'Report Card' On Anniversary Of JetBlue Strandings

February 14, 2008 marked the first anniversary of the infamous JetBlue Valentine's Day debacle, when hundreds of passengers were stranded for up to 17 hours on the tarmac at JFK International in New York during an ice storm last year. Hundreds of passengers were similarly stranded on other tarmacs at Newark and Philadelphia, and six weeks earlier, in December, scores of planes and thousands of passengers were stranded on tarmacs in the DFW region, some for over nine hours.

Kate Hanni, who founded the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights following the December stranding, said Thursday, "The victims of these incidents are still wondering "Where's the love?."

Hanni notes passengers rights legislation is moving slowly through Congress, and a handful of states are considering similar measures. "But, what's causing this delay?"

According to the website, OpenSecrets.org, the airline industry and its lobbyists are spreading plenty of love around to presidential candidates and elected representatives at all levels of government. The air transport industry donated over $5.5 million to members of Congress during the 2007-2008 election cycle, including nearly $300,000 between Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama.

For the moment, it's hard to say whether those donations will result in an airline-friendly administration come January 21, 2009 -- though it's worth noting in 1999, similar legislation was killed following an infusion of soft money into lawmaker's election coffers.

Meanwhile, the coalition is entirely funded by private donations and composed of a dedicated all-volunteer force of soccer moms, retirees, and part-time working professionals. "At most, we've had maybe as much as $5000 in the bank at any given time, but our members care too much about this issue."

In related news, the coalition released its 2007 Airline Stranding Report Card to coincide with the Valentine's Day anniversary. The report card is based on a combination of press reports, government statistics, eyewitness accounts from coalition members and hotline calls.

The full report card can be found on the organization's website. We'll warn you, the results (some with attached photos, no less) aren't pretty.

FMI: www.flyersrights.org, http://opensecrets.org