New Federal Airline Rules

From Yahoo News:

"New government rule tackles fees, bumping, delays"

The U.S. government is adding new protections for travelers when airlines lose their bags, bump them off flights or hold them on the runway for hours. The airlines will also have to more clearly disclose the fees they charge. Consumer advocates say the wide-ranging regulations announced Wednesday would improve the flying experience. Still, they wanted regulators to get even tougher on bag fees and make it easier to sue airlines over shoddy service. Beginning in late August, passengers who pay $15 or more to check luggage will get a refund if their bag is lost. They'll also be entitled to more money — up to $1,330 — if they're bumped from a flight. Airlines will have to include government taxes and fees in advertised prices. Delayed international flights won't be allowed to sit on the tarmac for more than four hours, an extension of a year-old rule for domestic flights that greatly reduced 3-hour delays. Passengers bumped off oversold flights will be entitled to greater compensation — up to $650 or $1,330, depending on how long a passenger waits for a makeup flight. The limits are currently $400 or $800. Hobica said that's not enough compensation for delaying passengers' vacations or causing them to miss cruises and weddings. He said airlines should also be required to provide alternate transportation if they cancel a flight other than for reasons beyond their control, such as bad weather. Mark Pestronk, a Washington lawyer who advises travel agents, called the rule "a big disappointment" because regulators dropped a proposal to require that airlines include their customer-service promises in legal contracts with passengers. He said that means consumers can't sue an airline that fails to live up to its promises; they can only file a complaint with the government. Airlines said they're already doing many of the things the Transportation Department wants, including disclosing fees and telling passengers about developing delays. They pointed to government statistics, which show fewer bags are being mishandled and fewer passengers being bumped from oversold flights. Some consultants said the 4-hour limit on tarmac delays for international flights would increase cancelations, and could leave stranded passengers waiting days for a seat on another flight. Regulators were persuaded to adopt the 4-hour rule, however, after a late-December debacle in which several planes loaded with international travelers were stuck, some for more than 10 hours, on snowy runways at New York's JFK Airport. In the future, those airlines could face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger — more than $10 million for a heavily loaded superjumbo jet like an Airbus A380 — although the government has never imposed anything close to the maximum.

 

^ I think that people should get their baggage fee back if their bag(s) are delayed and not only if they are lost. I like that the compensation for bumping passengers went up since most airlines continue to overbook their flights, then bump people off. The best thing in this new set of rules is that international flights can not stay on the runway longer than 4 hours. There is no reason a plane can not either taxi back to the gate and let the passengers off or bring buses to the plane and get the passengers off. I thought it was a good idea for domestic flights and now international ones will be included. I really hope that the Government follows-though with the penalties if the airlines don't do any of these rules. The Government should also focus on the numerous problems with air traffic controllers. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110420/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airline_passenger_rules