Flyers Rights Rally to Support Boxer/Snowe Call to Pass Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

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Mar 16, 2010, 08:04 ET

Latest 7 hour + Stranding of Passengers Demonstrates Clear Need for Legislative Action NOW

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Passenger Rights leader Kate Hanni rallied her national grassroots network in support of call from U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to promptly pass their Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. Her call to action came after news that the passengers of Virgin America Flight 404, traveling from LAX to JFK last Saturday, were stranded on a tarmac in Newburgh, New York, for over seven hours.

"This latest chapter in the long history of airline passenger strandings is proof positive that Congress must act to pass the bipartisan Airline Passenger Bill of Rights without further delay," said Hanni. "We are calling upon all our members and supporters to urge Senators to vote for the Senate FAA bill which contains strong passenger rights protections including a rule that would direct commercial airliners to return to the gate after three hours. Had this law been in effect last weekend this latest incident would have never been allowed to happen."

"The commercial airlines often underreport or try to minimize the facts surrounding tarmac strandings and did so in the case of Virgin 404," added Hanni. "Passengers were stranded for over seven hours on the tarmac without access to adequate food and water, not five. It is essential that we keep the airlines honest and require them to treat passengers as human beings—as they clearly will not do this if left to their own devices."

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have sponsored legislation that would establish an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights – language that is incorporated in the FAA Authorization Bill that is on the Senate floor this week. In December 2009, the Department of Transportation unveiled a new regulation limiting tarmac delays that includes much of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. However, the regulation, which is to take effect on April 29, 2010 does not give passengers permanent protection because it could be overturned or changed at the discretion of the Secretary of Transportation.

SOURCE FlyersRights.org