Dept of Transport Upholds the Passenger's Rights Movement

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is responding to public ire over the JetBlue flight schedule meltdown in the week leading up to President's Day. "It is imperative that airlines do everything possible to ensure that situations like these do not occur again. I have serious concerns about airlines' contingency planning that allows passengers to sit on the tarmac for hours on end," she said on Tuesday. She then directed the Department's Inspector General to examine why a planeload of JetBlue passengers were left aboard an aircraft for up to ten hours on Valentine's Day. The DoTIG, Calvin Scovell, should have an easy task ahead of him as the mea culpa statements by the JetBlue CEO, David G. Neeleman, were broadcast widely. In fact JetBlue has adopted a self-initiated Passengers' Bill of Rights in a move that evidently hoped to pre-empt any legislative action.

In a display of unaccustomed largesse, JetBlue offered passengers stranded three hours or more a full refund and a free round-trip ticket to anywhere JetBlue flies. That was even before they'd announced their PBoR. Lawmakers in the House and the Senate are known to be drafting bills that would create a new "airline passenger bill of rights" that, among other things, would require planes delayed on the ground more than three hours to allow passengers to get off, compel airlines to provide passengers with frequent updates about delays and mandate disclosure of information about the real reasons behind chronically delayed or canceled flights. The Air Transport Association, which represents most major passenger and cargo carriers, said the Federal Aviation Administration should allow delayed flights to come back to terminals so passengers can exit planes without forcing those planes to lose their place in line for takeoff.

Under JetBlue's new customer bill of rights, if it cancels a flight within 12 hours of its departure because of problems within its control, customers can ask for a full refund, a credit or a voucher. If the airline delays a flight in a situation within its control, passengers would receive vouchers ranging from $25 to the full amount of a round-trip ticket, depending on the length of the delay.

Compensation also would be made if a plane lands but can't taxi to its gate within 30 minutes. And if a plane's departure is delayed for more than three hours, passengers will be eligible for vouchers of at least $100 and up to the value of the ticket. JetBlue also vowed to deplane passengers if an aircraft is delayed on the ground for five hours.

It will be interesting to see in which respect the DoTIG will be looking to further "up the ante" on passengers' rights.