Adds Senate Plans To 'Kick the Can' On BPOR

The Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights issued a challenge Monday to each of the presidential candidates, to make public their positions on the rights of airline passengers to not be subjected to more than three hours on airport tarmacs and to be provided a minimum amount of food, water, medical attention and other basic human essential needs during lengthy tarmac delays.

According to a recent Zagat survey of frequent air travelers, strong federal passenger rights regulation now has overwhelming public support by a margin of 11 to 1.  "Americans want to know where the candidates stand on these important issues," said CAPBOR founder and spokesperson Kate Hanni.

Policy request letters were faxed, e-mailed, and hand-delivered to each of the candidate's campaigns.

The only candidate with a known track record on this subject is Republican Senator John McCain, who led a campaign for passengers' rights in 1999, but then dropped the issue in favor of the airline's self-imposed service improvements. CAPBOR maintains history has shown that the trust placed in the industry was misplaced.

The other candidates do not appear to have a track record or public position on these issues.

In related news, the coalition says sources indicate the US Senate is considering an extension to the FAA Modernization Act that will effectively kill passengers' rights legislation this year.

"Our members are outraged. Every day that passengers' rights languish on the tarmac, is another day someone may suffer from diabetic shock or develop a blood clot," said Hanni.

The extension also affects needed upgrades to the air traffic control system. Passenger enplanements are expected to increase to over one billion in the next ten years, according to the group, further taxing an already over-stressed system.

"Every day that Congress postpones this legislation is another day airline passengers will be waiting for hours to get where they need to be," Hanni said.

FMI: www.flyersrights.org