Airlines Want To Continue Abusing Passengers

Air travel in this country used to be a fast and fairly enjoyable way to travel. There were few delays and the airlines actually treated customers like they wanted to keep their business. Of course, that was a long time ago. Today, airlines treat their passengers more like cattle being hauled to the slaughter house.

At some airports, airlines over-schedule their flights and leave their passengers sitting on the tarmac for hours at a time. There have been times when passengers had to sit cooped-up in an airplane on the tarmac for 9-12 hours. And there's nothing a passenger can do once in the plane. If they complain too much, the airline will have them arrested for disrupting a flight (even though the plane hasn't even tried to get in the air).

Fortunately, the federal government is coming to the rescue (sort of). Starting next month, new rules go into effect that will fine an airline up to $27,500 per passenger for every passenger that has to sit on the tarmac longer than three hours. That's still too long, but it's not as bad as many waiting times right now.

This might actually get the airlines' attention and cut out many delays. Just think, a Boeing 737 (pictured) with a full load of passengers could be fined nearly $4 million, and a Boeing 777 could get a fine of $8.9 million. Fines like this could play hell with a company's bottom line, especially if it happened repeatedly.

So how have the airlines reacted? Have they adjusted their scheduling to avoid the torturous delays that passengers must suffer on the tarmac? Not at all. They have asked to be exempted from the new rule. American Airlines, JetBlue and Delta have all asked for exemptions so they can continue to torture their passengers. And guess what? They just happen to be the airlines that keep passengers waiting on the tarmac the most.

These are the guys the new rules were written for, and there is no way they should receive any exemption for any amount of time. The rules were written to protect passengers -- not airline profits. The rule should start next month as planned, and should apply to all airlines -- with no exemptions.

The passengers are helpless in this situation, but the airlines are not. They can adjust their scheduling to prevent these ridiculous delays, and they should be forced to do so (or fined severely).

Bad News For Airline Passengers

Airline passengers just got a bit of bad news last Tuesday. A federal appeals court has thrown out the first airline passenger "bill of rights" passed in the country. These rights were passed in the state of New York after repeated incidents of airline passengers being stuck on a plane for many hours waiting for take-off.

The New York law said the airlines must provide water, food and access to clean bathrooms for those people stuck in a plane that cannot take-off. That just sounds reasonable to me. But the airlines didn't like it.

The Air Transport Association of America, which is an industry group representing U.S. airlines, took the law to court and got it thrown out. The federal court agreed that the goals of the law were "laudable" and the conditions that existed on the planes during these extended periods on the tarmac were "deplorable".

But the court went on to say that states could not pass laws regulating the airline industry, because that was an area reserved for the federal government. All I can say, is it's time for Congress to act then. Airplanes are uncomfortable enough, without being stuck for hours on the tarmac without even the barest essentials.

How about it Democrats? Can you help us out here? We know the Republicans won't do it, because it would upset their corporate masters.