U.S. airlines won't deliver on pledges to keep passengers from being stranded on runways for extended hours and it is time for the government to step in, said U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) earlier this month. "This winter makes clear airlines have failed to live up to their own promises,'' Boxer said at a hearing by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee April 11 in Washington. "We have to fix this.'' Boxer and Snowe are the chief architects of new Passenger Bill of Rights legislation that would require airlines to let passengers off airplanes if they are stranded for more than three hours. It also would force airlines to provide water, food, and adequate restroom access during delays. The senators introduced the legislation after snow and icy weather on Valentine's Day stranded passengers for up to nine hours at airports in New York and California
(BTN, March 5). Boxer accused James May, president of the Air Transport Association, of failing to deliver on promises to self-regulate made in 2001 in an effort to keep Congress from imposing guidelines. May argued that stringent regulation would create more inconveniences for most passengers because airlines would be forced to accommodate the whims of difficult passengers. He also said that while Congress can't legislate weather, it can take steps to reduce air traffic congestion caused by a proliferation of corporate jets and other private aircraft. "Delays of five hours or more are extremely rare, but shorter delays are plaguing the system and getting worse because of the vast increase in corporate jets," May said.
Private Aviation Fights FAA FundingA proposal to shift more of the cost of funding the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic controllers to business jet owners is rapidly escalating as a major battle between commercial airlines and private aviation. Private aircraft owners on April 10 launched the Alliance for Aviation Across America to stoke opposition to the idea, made in President George W. Bush's budget request, by persuading members of Congress that it would be bad for small communities. "This special-interest legislation would benefit no one but the big commercial airlines," said Quinwood, W.V., mayor Gene Wright, a pilot and coalition member. Bush's budget would reduce some taxes paid by major commercial carriers and replace the revenue by raising taxes on fuel used by small planes and reducing some programs that benefit private aviation. It would save the airlines about $1.7 billion in taxes annually. The Air Transport Association, which represents the carriers, argues that the current systems subsidizes corporate aviation while overtaxing airlines and commercial passengers.
TSA Requests Tracking Tech InfoThe Transportation Security Administration this month released a request for information as its first step in exploring an end-to-end system for tracking passengers and baggage "as they move through the transportation system." TSA in the request said, "A key aspect of the enhanced security envisioned for this future system is the ability to continuously ensure positive identification of every passenger as they traverse the aviation system, from the time a reservation is made to the time they exit an airport at their destination." TSA said the request for information does not constitute a solicitation of bids or concrete plans to enact a system, but rather is a means to conduct research on vendors and their potential offerings that would "address an operational need for credential verification, identity management and tracking of passengers and their checked and/or carry-on baggage." Among the technologies that TSA plans to explore are documentation scanners, biometrics, smart cards, integrated portals, kiosks and such other tracking technologies as radio frequency identification and video surveillance, according to the request for information.