In wake of delays, N.Y. passes airline passenger rights bill
Andrew Compart, Travel Weekly, 8/13/2007 (excerpted)
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed a state airline passenger rights bill on Aug. 2 that is likely to be challenged in court by the nation's airlines, but the bill is another indication of customers' level of frustration with airline service.
As of Jan. 1, all airlines operating out of New York airports must provide passengers with food, water, fresh air, lighting and working rest rooms on any flight that has left the gate and been on the tarmac for more than three hours.
The airlines risk a $1,000 fine per violation per passenger if they don't comply.
The law establishes an Office of the Airline Consumer Advocate within the state's Consumer Protection Board to oversee compliance with the new law by taking complaints and referring them to the state attorney general if necessary. The office also will accept other complaints about service.
The law requires airlines to post an explanation of passenger rights at their service desks and in "other appropriate areas" at the airport. Airlines also must post contact information for making a complaint.
"This law establishes much-needed consumer protections that will help guarantee greater passenger safety and comfort when severe delays impact their travels from New York airports," Spitzer said in signing the legislation, which was cosponsored by Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), and Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick).
Possible legal challenge
But the law will likely be challenged, because when Congress wrote the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, it included language to keep states from interfering.
Under the federal law's preemption provision, states "may not enact or enforce a law, regulation or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route or service of an air carrier."
The Air Transport Association, the U.S. airline industry's largest trade group, made it clear where the airlines stand.
"We are looking at all of our options, including a legal challenge," ATA spokesman David Castelveter said. "Federal law preempts the right for state law regarding airline services. We're disappointed that they went forward when federal law regarding customer service was ignored."
Gianaris said he believed the New York law would hold up in court. Federal courts have held that the provision of "amenities" for air travelers is one area that states can legitimately address, he argued.
New York passed its law even as Congress was considering legislation to deal with the same issue in proposed bills to reauthorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved language that would require airlines to provide "adequate" food, potable water and rest room facilities to passengers when a flight is "substantially delayed."
Airlines would also have to develop a plan that provided a "clear time frame under which [passengers] will be permitted to deplane." Absent such a plan, airlines would have to let passengers deplane after three hours unless the pilot "reasonably determined" the flight would take off within 30 minutes or that deplaning would jeopardize passenger safety or security.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a provision that would require airlines and airports to develop an "emergency contingency plan" describing how they would provide food, water, rest room facilities, cabin ventilation and access to medical treatment for passengers stuck on a grounded aircraft for "an extended period."
Castelveter said airlines had provided their contingency plans to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who has been at the forefront of passenger rights legislation.
He also said that the DOT's inspector general was reviewing those plans for a report he was expected to submit to Congress by the time it returns to Capitol Hill from its August recess on Sept. 4.
