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More Passenger-Friendly Airline Rules Introduced by DOT

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More Traveler-Friendly Airline Rules Introduced by DOT

(Dive Travel Business News - June 9, 2010) -- Just months after the US Department of Transportation  (DOT) dealt with lengthy on-ground flight delays with new tarmac rules,  DOT Secretary Ray LaHood has released a new round of consumer-friendly airline rules. If adopted, this newest set of airline regulations would:

  • Force smaller airports and international air carriers to adopt contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays;
  • Make airlines give passenger more information on delays;
  • Foreign airlines would become subject to the same ground delay data reporting and disclosure rules as U.S. carriers;
  • Establish of minimum standards for carriers’ customer service plans and extend the customer service plan requirements to cover foreign carriers;
  • Change airline policies on denied boarding compensation, also known as involuntary bumping, to increase minimum compensation, add inflation adjustment, and offer more information to passengers about the policies
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New Tarmac Delay Rule 101

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New 3-hour tarmac rule in effect may cause more delays

(Dive Travel Business News - May 6, 2010 ) -- On Thursday April 29, 2010, new US Transportation Department legislation was put into effect that requires all U.S. airlines to deplane passengers after 3 hours or face potential fines of up to $27,500 per passenger. International airlines are not subject to the 3-hour delay rule, even if they land or takeoff from U.S. airports. The rule applies only to domestic flights and will not affect international flights. 

It all started last August when a Continental Express jet with 47 passengers was diverted from Minneapolis due to bad weather and was stranded overnight in the plane Rochester, Minn. some 50 yards from the terminal gate:   The horror stories emminating from that incident - airline passengers young and old, stranded on the tarmac for hours without food or water, without access to their medications or sanitary bathroom conditions - prompted  the Transportation Department to draw up the new 3-hour tarmac delay rules, which were approved in December 2009 and are now in effect.

Here's is a Summary of the 3-Hour Rule: read more »

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