Most travelers are motivated prior to flying to find cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages. However many a trip has been spoiled by circumstances beyond the control of the traveler.
The DOT (Department of Transportation) came out with a proposal on Wednesday, June 2, that it believes will reduce common airline passenger frustrations by requiring greater accountability from the airlines. Included in the proposed rule is the following:
Increase the maximum compensation for passengers involuntarily bumped from flights by over 60 percent. The goal is to financially motivate airlines to reduce the number of seats they sell in excess of any given airplanes maximum seating capacity.
Airlines will have to do a much better job disclosing fees and advertise in ways that display airline tickets full prices. Baggage fees must be prominently displayed and fully disclosed. Failure to do this will result in refunds of those fees.
Passengers will be allowed to cancel reservation within 24 hours of making them without any penalty.
The tarmac delay rule is being expanded. Foreign airlines operating in the U.S. will be required to develop contingency plans for runway delays and display these plans on their web sites. Airlines previously excluded from the tarmac rule because they operated out of small and non-hub airports will now have to follow that rule.
This proposal is expected to be fully implemented this fall, following a 60 day public comment period and review of that feedback.
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