Profile: mezo
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Welcome to Regulation Room and thanks for your comment!
A great place to start on the site is to check out the “Site Tour” link at the top right-ish part of the page. There, you can find four short guide videos explaining our site and where we are in the rulemaking process. This morning Secretary LaHood announced the proposed rule, and Regulation Room went live to provide a forum for commenting on what has been proposed.
Also, would you care to elaborate on what you meant by airports and carriers working together to develop contingency plans for delayed flights stuck on the tarmac? The more information you provide, the more the other contributors can comment and join the discussion as well. Thanks!
Agree with mezo. Even 2 hrs is too much if weather is hot, small children are among passengers. Either get the plane in the air or take passengers off.
Thank you – your browser is working and you have posted successfully. That’s a good example of a contingency plan airports could consider.
Though the statistics on tarmac delays are through April (as posted on this site), do you think airlines should provide airport information to those purchasing tickets?
No comments
First, I congratulate and thank Secretary LaHood and DOT for their efforts in improving customer protections for travelers.
The cut-off should be for all types of planes, not just large ones. Airports AND carriers should work together to develop tarmac contingency plans.
Personally, I think 3 hours is too long to be held captive in a immobile plane. Two hours is much more reasonable.
I believe these caps should benefit the consumers who are taken advantage of by the airlines.
However, I agree with another poster. Getting the funds in airline “dollars” doesn’t help those who travel infrequently and who expected (via their ticket purchase) to be on a flight to get to their destination.
As far as zero-fare tickets, they should have a choice between a cash refund (maybe 1/3rd of the value of the ticket if purchased) or airline miles doubled. This way if it were the travelers “last flight” for years, or ever, they can still be compensated for their “contract” with the airline being broke.
Consumers should be notified about delays, no matter how long they are. This can be done electronically very easily. If the flight is late and making a connecting flight is not possible, then the consumer should be afforded the opportunity to alter plans as soon as possible.
I think it is important that both domestic and international flights be covered by this requirement.
Giving the consumer’s more information regarding pricing schemes is definitely helpful for those who travel on a budget.
I think that post-purchase price increases should be banned. If a compromise must be reached, then any consumer must be allowed to refund their ticket if prices are increased–even if the ticket was non-refundable. Trapping consumers like this is horrible and quite unethical.
I question the safety of so many carry-on bags shoved into the overhead compartments. These compartments have been known to fly open during turbulence and items can easily fall out.
All fees should be listed out for each airline so consumers are given full access to fees in order to make informed decisions.
A 3-month period for displaying information is adequate. It should be displayed on airline websites and ticketing outlets (like online ones), at a minimum.
This should apply to all carriers doing business in the US for all size planes.
Airlines should absolutely reimburse passengers whose bags are not delivered on time or lost. A time period must be specified–it cannot be left for the airlines to decide.
Yes, carriers should refund ticket costs for significant delays. Actually, they should give consumers the choice between a refund or some other form of compensation for those travelers who decide their time has become too short for travel due to the delay and change their travel plans.
Significant delay must also be defined by DOT.
It’s too bad that this industry has become so anti-consumerist. Self-regulation has not worked and the consumers have carried a significant burden because of it.
I think it should apply to all foreign and US airlines with flights to and from the US equally. Citizens should be protected regardless of which airline they choose and airlines that operate in the US should be required to operate under equal rules.
Hi,
For flights stuck on the tarmac, they must return to an open gates. Open gates are sometimes difficult to find–at least in my experience. I fly internationally frequently and so I fly through major airports in the US. These airports have maybe 60 planes taking off an hour–and landing. Just an incredible number. Practically speaking, the airports must have extra gates available for flights that become delayed for unloading passengers. This could be done by either limiting the number of planes that take-off/land at the airport or providing contingent and safe ways to unload passengers–and provide them with adequate holding areas for these passengers.
If airports share in the responsibility, they are more likely to work together with the airlines to provide such a service.
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Hope this helps.
(P.S., I lost my first reply using Firefox 3.5 on Mac OSX 10.5. I switched to Safari and it looks like it’s working. If you see this post, it did work.) « less