U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced plans to bump up the cost to airlines for bumping passengers on overbooked flights. The proposals also include greater transparency in pricing and fees as well as tweaks to the recently-enacted tarmac delay limits. The actions are encouraging for airline passengers, so how are the airlines reacting?

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is outlining new measures that will strengthen airline passenger protections beyond the recently-enacted tarmac delay limits. The proposed rules are intended to:

• increase compensation for passengers involuntarily bumped from flights


• allow passengers to make and cancel reservations within 24 hours without penalty


• require full and prominently displayed disclosure of baggage fees as well as refunds and expense reimbursement when bags are not delivered on time


• require fair price advertising


• prohibit price increases after a ticket is purchased


• mandate timely notice of flight status changes

The rule limiting tarmac delays for domestic flights to 3 hours before passengers are returned to the gate also required U.S. airlines to create and publish their contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays. IAPA has been an advocate for such contingency plans since 2008.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary, Ray LaHood

The most recent DOT proposal will expand the requirement to include non-U.S. airlines and operations at small and non-hub airports. Additionally, the DOT will require more data about tarmac delays. Currently only the 18 largest airlines operating domestically in the U.S. report this data to the DOT. The new rules will expand the collection of tarmac delay information to all U.S. and foreign carriers operating aircraft of 30 or more seats on flights to and from the United States. This will also include charter flights.

One of the more prominent changes deals with compensation for passengers who are denied boarding due to overbooking of flights. Involuntarily "bumped" passengers are currently entitled to US$400 if the airline can get them to their destination within two hours of the original schedule for a domestic flight or four hours for an international flight. If not, the compensation goes up to $800. According to the DOT, the proposed rule would quickly increase these limits to $650 and $1,300, respectively, and thereafter adjust the amounts for inflation every two years.

The new rules also require carriers to provide special notice any time baggage fees are increased, and to notify passengers buying tickets whether they must pay to check up to two bags, according to the DOT press release.

There will be a 60 day comment period for interested parties before the rules are finalized and implemented later this year. The Air Transport Association (ATA) issued a statement in response to the proposals.

James May, President, ATA

"The ATA member airlines' shared goal is to provide a safe, efficient, reliable and economically viable air transportation system consistent with the expectations of their customers, employees and shareholders. Today's DOT notice of proposed rulemaking will be evaluated against that standard, with a focus on minimizing potential passenger inconvenience," said ATA President and CEO James C. May.

In a press release, Transportation Secretary LaHood said: "With this rulemaking, we're proposing to strengthen the consumer protections enacted last month and raise the bar for airlines when it comes to treating passengers fairly."