The White House is mulling over an Aviation Bill that can help many travelers with their airline-related woes. This includes standard procedures over delayed flights, baggage mishandling and airline crew misconduct. Here are some of the important points of this bill, and what it aims to achieve.
Refunds for baggage delays
Fox News reports that baggage refund fees would be available to passengers whose bags have been delayed 12 or more hours for domestic flights or 15 or more hours for overseas flights.
No more surprise charges
The US Transportation Department is considering a rule that requires airlines to disclose fees to ticket agents, which would eliminate any surprise charges. This means clearer policies on inclusions for airfare, such as seat upgrades, extra meals, lounge access, etc. Many airlines are guilty of this strategy as a way of upping their income from passengers.
Another problem is that some travel agents are hired by airlines to prioritize bookings under them, for a premium, causing an unfair pricing when returned to the actual travelers.
"We are trying to assure that ... a ticket agent doesn't rank flights of an individual airline higher or lower in search results because of incentive payments or any other business reason," a Transportation Department official told Reuters.
Conduct reports from airlines
Airlines will now be liable to disclose whenever a flight is delayed, for how long the delay happened, and the reason for delay. In addition, airlines must also file a report regarding how often they lose or damage wheelchairs, a requirement for all airlines in order to properly serve PWD's and the elderly.
Reaction from US Airlines
Most airlines in the US responded with positivity, except for the part about how their fares are being displayed. Airlines have been trying to draw passengers away from airline comparison sites such as Google Flights, which has helped passengers find the cheapest flights possible for any given route.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
