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."