Air Passengers Like Cattle

I have been hearing and reading a lot lately about more and more people being stuck on planes or abandoned by airlines at airports and thought I had to write about it again.

There is nothing an airline or airport can do when there is bad weather. With that said there are many, many things they can do for their passengers when bad weather causes cancellations or delays. There is a saying that the true colors of a person or organization come out when something bad happens. It seems that the majority of airports and airlines in the United States show their colors poorly. Their policies and/or people lack basic skills to deal with the safety and well-being of their passengers during cancellations and delays. There is no excuse nowadays for airlines and airports to not have a back-up plan and to use it effectively. These incidents are part of a growing epidemic that have been hurting air passengers for numerous years.

In April new Federal Government rules will come into effect that will fine any airline that keeps its passengers stranded on-board for longer than 4 hours. I have heard of some airlines (such as Continental) that say they would rather cancel the flights rather than risk the fines. In this case the passengers would still be stranded, but would be stranded in the airport rather than on a plane. I, personally,

would rather be left at the airport than on a plane. At least you have a chance of leaving an airport than you do if you are on a closed plane.

If airlines cancel flights that is their right (although many travel sites now show the on-time performance of each flight and this would be shown in the percentage.) They also have a legal responsibility to care for their passengers at the airport once they do that (ie re-booking them on different flights, food vouchers, putting them in a hotel, etc.) Most people do not know that there is a regulation that if an airline does not get you to your destination within 2 hours from when you were supposed to arrive then they also have to reimburse you for that segment (in cash and not vouchers.)

I know these new Federal regulations are not the only answer to all these current issues, but it is a small step in the right direction. I think the regulations should also include the airports in this - especially if they refuse to let passengers off the plane and into their terminals. Passengers should also become aware of which airlines and airports treat you well during a weather emergency and which ones do not. Complaining to the FAA, the airlines, the airports and your Congressmen are ways to hold the airlines and airports responsible for their poor treatment. Also people should stop flying those airlines that treat its passengers badly. That is voting with your feet and if the airline looses enough money from this maybe they would start treating people better - or they will go bankrupt.

When all is said and done it is the passengers (not the airlines or the airports) who are the most important issue. Passengers need to start being treated like people and not numbers or cattle. If a weather emergency (or any emergency) comes up then it is up to the airlines and the airports to continue to treat the passengers as humans. While passenger safety is the first priority the second is covering basic human rights of food, water, bathrooms and shelter. As of right now the majority of airlines and airports are only focusing on themselves and their bottom-line and not about their passengers.