Tuesday 24 July 2007

DOT and inconvenienced air travelers

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) this morning that, for the first time in almost 30 years, the Dept. of Transportation is considering raising the amount of money airlines must pay to passengers who are bumped from flights. One possibility would fully account for inflation since 1978 and more than triple the penalties to a maximum cap of $624 from $200 and $1,248 from $400 - the amount depends upon how long you have to wait to get to your destination.
They are taking comments from the public. You can read the document here , which contains an abstract: "Petition of the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. for Rulemaking, requesting the Department of Transportation to expeditiously initiate two consumer-related rulemaking proceedings, the first would reexamine the maximum level of involuntary denied boarding compensation that Part 250 of the Department's Economic Regulations establishes and the second would reexamine the method by which mishandled baggage data are collected under Part 234 for the Department's airline service quality performance reports."
Submit your comments here before Sept. 10, 2007.

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