Measure Contains "Passengers Bill Of Rights," Includes 3 Hour Rule

Included in the legislation passed Monday by the U.S. Senate to reauthorize the FAA is the so-called "Passengers Bill of Rights."  The language, championed by FlyersRights.org, requires the either delayed commercial aircraft return to the gate after a three hour period on the Tarmac, or that buses go to the plane to allow passengers to deplane without the plane losing its place in line.

"Today is an historic day for airline passengers in the United States," said Flyers Rights Executive Director, Kate Hanni. "By providing airline passengers with a Bill of Rights, including a 3 Hour limit whereby airlines must return stranded passengers to the terminal, the United States Senate has spoken boldly and clearly that the airlines must treat their customers fairly and with decency, or face consequences."

"On behalf of all airline passengers in the United States, I would like to thank Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) the Commerce Committee leadership, and all those that supported our fight to make the Airline Passengers Bill of Rights a reality today," added Hanni. "It has been a long and tough struggle and these Senators deserve a lot of credit for putting consumers first."

The House of Representatives passed their version of the FAA bill last year. Now, the House version and the Senate version, which contain a number of significant differences, must be reconciled before the bill is finalized and sent to the President for signature. The laws and taxes which fund the operations of the FAA expire at the end of March. The House has already passed another extension of these funding mechanisms and authorizations in case more time is needed to reconcile the two bills. If the differences are not reconciled by the end of March, the Senate would need to pass another extension as well.

"We now call upon the Leaders in the House and Senate who will be running the Conference to reconcile the two versions of the FAA bill to expedite the finalization of this vitally important, landmark legislation, "said Hanni.

FMI: www.flyersrights.org/