Passenger Bill of Rights still on the tarmac.
There is still hope for a Passenger Bill of Rights, but like many aspects of the airline world, it’s been delayed. Surprised? Didn’t think so.New York recently passed a state law requiring airlines to provide food, water, sanitary restroom facilities, and fresh air for grounded passengers after three hours. (The law was initiated after a full plane was stranded more than ten hours on a runway at Kennedy International Airport.) But it has been challenged in appeals court by the Air Transport Association of America.
Judges intimate in articles that the New York law and similar efforts by other states will likely be pre-empted by federal authority and that “only the federal government can regulate airline services.” Okay, that makes sense. But apparently no one at the federal level is in a hurry to make such strides in the air travel arena. Those who are optimistic hope that court cases like this appeal of the New York law will at least raise public awareness of the problem and of the options to solve it.
