11/10/08

Airlines Get 500 Million in your Tax Dollars and Passengers Get Nothing

OBERSTAR URGED TO GIVE STRANDED AIRLINE PASSENGERS RELIEFAS PART OF $500M INSURANCE SUBSIDYUnless emergency bill is amended, airlines will get $500M – and passengers get bumpedWASHINGTON (September 22) – The head of the nation’s leading passenger rights organization today urged Congressman James Oberstar (DFL-MN) to give relief to stranded airline passengers as part of emergency legislation re-authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill, under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure which Oberstar chairs, gives the airlines $500 million in taxpayer-funded “war insurance,” but fails to contain an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights that would give relief to flyers who are now stuck inside the aircraft indefinitely while planes’ departures are delayed.“I urge Chairman Oberstar not to give the airlines’ lobbyists and campaign donations a seat in First Class at the expense of passengers who are stuck back in coach – for eight or nine hours at a time,” said Kate Hanni, President of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights (). “Today, the airlines can keep you stranded indefinitely on the tarmac in a sealed metal tube, and there’s nothing you can do about it. We’re only asking that after three hours, they take you back to the terminal and let you get some fresh air, food, fresh water and a toilet that works. We urge Congressman Oberstar, as chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to use his influence to give relief to these stranded passengers as part of emergency legislation now before his Committee to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.”Hanni explained that Congress must enact an emergency extension of legislation reauthorizing the FAA by September 30, or the Agency must legally shut its doors. The airlines, which spent $16 million this year alone on lobbying, according have obtained an amendment to the measure granting them $500 million in insurance guarantees against future acts of terrorism. Congress has so far refused, however, to include provisions creating a legally-enforceable “Passengers’ Bill of Rights,” including a requirement that passengers be returned to the terminal and let off their aircraft after three hours of delay.“Maybe if more Members of Congress rode in coach with the rest of us instead of flying in First Class or on corporate jets, they’d be more compassionate. In the meantime, we’ll make sure their constituents know it if they give airline donors big bucks while passengers get bumped.”Hanni, a private citizen who took on the airlines after she was forced to sit for 9 hours waiting for a flight to take off, says that the Coalition will do “everything in our power” to apply citizen pressure to the legislators in the days remaining before both Houses take up legislation extending the FAA’s re-authorization. The FAA’s authorization expires on September 30 and Congressional leaders have not said when the re-authorization legislation will be voted upon.

FAA Computer Meltdown makes obvious need for Congress to Pass FAA Reauthorization Bill!

Flyersrights.org (CAPBOR) Statement on FAA Computer Meltdown Resulting in Massive Flight DelaysAugust 26, 2008 Napa, California – The Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights today issued the following statement following news reports that airports across the country were experiencing massive flight delays as a result of an FAA computer glitch that resulted in problems accepting flight plan data:“This is the second time in less than two years that we have seen a massive computer failure that has grounded thousands of flights across the country. Ensuring that passengers are kept flying safely and efficiently should be one of our nation’s top priorities – how many times do we have to see these type of total system break-downs before our government steps in to do something?” Kate Hanni, Flyersrights.org exec. Dir. said.“Congress has made great strides in coming up with an FAA reauthorization bill that would upgrade this antiquated technology and ensure passengers basic rights, but now we need to finish the job, before financing expires on September 30th and we have to start all over from scratch. We urge lawmakers to pass this important legislation and ensure that passengers everywhere have access to basic rights and recourses when traveling,” said Hanni.“This most recent failure of the FAA Computer System has effected every flight and every airport in the Country today; obviates the need for Congress to stop ‘Kicking the Can down the road and pass the FAA Modernization Bill now before Congress.” The FAA reauthorization bill has already been delayed one year and Congress still has not finished the job through the Senate. Will it take a catastrophic event before Congress shores up our infrastructure in a meaningful way?”Flyersrights.org/CAPBOR is standing by to help passengers in need who are grounded, stranded or experiencing delays across the country – passengers can call the 24-hour hotline at 1(877)FLYERS6 (1-877-359-3776) to get information about flight tracking, rescheduling flight or any other information related to flight delays.The Coalition has 24,000 members . We are joined by Consumer’s Union, Public Citizen, Consumer Federation of America, USPirg, NSL, ACAP, IAM AND NATCA.

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