DOT Proposes Broad New Passenger Protection Regulations
Air Transport World reports today that the US Dept. of Transportation issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend the requirements of the so-called tarmac delay rule to foreign airlines' US operations and to require all carriers to adopt delay contingency plans at all US airports they serve. Currently the rule only applies to large and medium hub airports.
The wide-ranging rulemaking also proposes to boost the minimum compensation offered passengers involuntarily bumped from flights from $400/$800 at present to $650/$1,300 and establishes a CPI-based formula that would see payments rise automatically with inflation. It would require airlines to refund checked baggage fees if bags are lost or delayed, prohibit price increases (such as fuel surcharges) after a ticket is purchased and set new requirements for advertising fares. It would permit customers to hold reservations at the quoted fare without payment, or cancel without penalty, for at least 24 hr. after the reservation is made. Many of the rule’s provisions are extended to non-US airlines serving the US.
Source: ATW Daily News