Thanks to the federal government, the airline practice of bumping passengers off flights they deliberately oversold could put some extra cash in your pocket.
The Department of Transportation announced today a whole battery of proposed rule changes governing how air passengers are treated.
Several of the changes deal with “tarmac delays” — holding flights on the ground after the airplane has left the gate with its passenger aboard. Others require airlines to state the full price of their tickets. No more advertising ticket prices without including taxes and fees in the price, or advertising one-way fares as if they were a round-trip ticket.
(DOT is already using existing rules to crack the whip on companies — airlines, travel agencies and even Web sites — that have been playing games with the way they present ticket prices.)
But the one that’s got everybody talking covers bumping — or what DOT calls “denied boarding compensation.”
How airlines bump you — and how not to get bumped
As you know, flights don’t get oversold by accident. The airlines routinely overbook flights in the expectation that not everyone will actually show up. The government requires airlines to compensate bumped passengers.
For a long time, the maximum compensation you were entitled to was a maximum of $200 on domestic flights and $400 from international flights. Two years ago, that was raised to $400/$800. Mostly, the airlines were allowed to skate past this by offering travel vouchers for future flights, which certainly isn’t a bad thing.
But check this out. The new rule would:
* increase the compensation to a max of $650/$1,300.
* require the airlines to verbally offer not just a travel voucher for the compensation, but an actual check for the money, and
* offer the same compensation to anyone involuntarily bumped off a flight, even if they get their ticket using frequent-flier miles instead of paying cash for it.
In response, the Air Transport Association — aka the airline lobby — released this:
“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.
DOT will be taking comments on these proposals for the next 60 days. Expect howls of indignant protest from the airlines. If you, as a consumer, think these new rules are a good idea, you need to send DOT a comment of your own — or hook up with an outfit like FlyersRights.
My own comment can be summed up in three words:
“You go, DOT!”
Another great news article, Greg. You’ve quickly become the “go to” source for breaking travel news. Will share with others…
Thanks for the kind words, David. Secretaries of Transportation don’t usually get much attention, but Ray LaHood is making some waves, and most of them are on behalf of the traveling consumer.