Airline Gaffes Fuel Passenger Bill of Rights

Feb. 16, 2007 — -- Even in the best of times, air travel can cause plenty of aggravation and criticism. In the worst of times, it can be so bad that Congress has to get involved.

The next time you're upset about your flight taking off a half hour late, imagine waiting 10 hours; that was the fate for some JetBlue passengers on Wednesday at Kennedy Airport in New York City.

With harsh winter weather battering the Northeast, airlines have struggled to cope with the elements and get travelers to their destinations, but even the airlines admit that situations such as Wednesday's JetBlue debacle are simply unacceptable.

JetBlue spokeswoman Alison Eshelman, after a day when 10 flights were stuck on the ground for more than three hours, apologized for the delays.

"The bottom line is that it was unacceptable to have left [the planes] there that long. We were operating under the assumption that we could be able to get them to their destinations and get them to their vacations but unfortunately that never happened. We should have done better."

The problems have already prompted JetBlue to reassess their policies.

"It's JetBlue's responsibility from start to finish," said Eshelman. "We're looking at our operational strategy based on this completely unacceptable experience."

JetBlue's troubles come two months after American Airlines outraged travelers by leaving flight #1348 stranded on the runway for nearly 10 hours in Austin. Since there is no Federal Aviation Administration regulation that airlines have to deplane passengers after extended delays, no laws were broken in either the JetBlue or American Airlines incidents. However, American Airlines has since updated their own policies.

"American Airlines' senior management has reviewed the regrettable events surrounding Flight 1348 and other flights on that day, and has set into motion plans so that our passengers' needs are taken care of should we ever find ourselves again in such challenging conditions," said spokesman Tim Wagner. "While we recognize that aircraft delays of such long duration are extremely rare, one of our first courses of action was to revise our policy to ensure passengers do not remain on aircraft more than four hours on the ground."

Still, the recent problems, as well as the fact that last year 67,000 flights were delayed at least an hour after leaving the gate, have reignited the debate over passengers' rights -- or lack thereof. In 1999, in an effort to avoid any congressional action, the airlines pledged to improve customer service on their own, adopting a 12-point pledge, including the promise to "meet customers' essential needs during long on-aircraft delays."

While JetBlue had yet to launch operations then and was exempt from any guidelines from that time, the airlines' failures to fulfill their promise to passengers is forcing Congress to step in again.

A day after the JetBlue incident, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., announced plans to introduce legislation for a passenger bill of rights to ensure that air travelers are not unnecessarily held on planes or deprived access to basic food, water, and hygiene.

"I've been stuck on the tarmac many times in my travel back and forth to California. Sometimes with the weather and traffic, it's unavoidable. But to keep passengers -- which usually include infants and the elderly -- on a plane for eleven hours in the worst of conditions is absurd," said Boxer. "If a plane is stuck on the tarmac or at the gate for hours, a passenger should have the right to deplane. No one should be held hostage on an aircraft when clearly they can find a way to get people off safely."