Travel&Vacation

Many travelers seem to think there are still lots of “rules” governing details of air transport. One reader, for example, asked: “On one recent flight, when we arrived late at the departure gate (due to a late incoming connection), the agent told us that standby passengers had already been boarded and would not be removed to give us our seats. But when we later boarded another flight as standbys on the same airline, the agent asked us to vacate our seats for late-arriving connecting travelers. What is the rule on standby passengers: Once on board, do they or don’t they keep their seats?”

The short answer is that there is no “rule” one way or another. Who gets on and who doesn’t is entirely up to the airline—and often to the individual boarding agent and flight crew. The government certainly has no rule, and none of the individual airline contracts of carriage treats this situation either. Individual airlines are inconsistent: A recent TV story told of an airline’s re-opening the door of a flight that had already “closed” to accommodate Britney Spears. Feh!

But this reader’s experience raises a more fundamental question—one that has suddenly emerged as Topic No.1 in airline circles: Do we need some new rules to protect travelers and possibly to establish new “rights” for air passengers? Even though I consider myself an unabashed consumer advocate, I’m concerned that the current travelers’ rights focus may be misdirected.

Where it stands

Currently, only one right broadly applicable to airline passengers is established in law: Ticketed passengers with valid reservations who are involuntarily “bumped” from a flight due to overbooking are entitled to compensation specified by rule. You can find the specific compensation formula in the Department of Transportation (DOT) publication, Fly Rights.

Government rules require other limited rights for travelers on public charter flights. You can find the specific requirements on the DOT website. These days, however, public charter flights are comparatively rare, so these charter rules have become almost irrelevant.

Beyond these limited cases, air travelers have no “rights” specific to air travel. What you get is determined by the contract you have with the airline, as referenced to your ticket. Individual airlines post their contracts of carriage on their websites, but, for the most part, they’re extremely one-sided and full of wiggle words. Contract law therefore becomes your last resort, and passengers sometimes do win lawsuits against airlines.

“Prisoner” flights

The current high-visibility drive for a federally mandated air travelers’ bill of rights was triggered by several recent “prisoner” flights. JetBlue kept some travelers onboard planes, waiting to take off in bad weather, for up to 11 hours. This followed a similar incident on American in Austin. In both cases, the planes had run out of water and snacks, toilets overflowed, and passengers were rightfully steamed.

In response, several senators and congresspersons suggested regulations that would impose maximum times airlines could hold travelers on the ground without letting them off the plane. Those bills are also likely to end up with a laundry list of other requirements.

Meanwhile, JetBlue has officially apologized to the victims and offered various forms of compensation. American, too, is reported to have offered compensation to its Austin victims.

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