FlyersRights.org Supports TSA Efforts, but Cautions That New Procedures be Implemented Carefully

/PRNewswire/ -- Today, FlyersRights.org, the nation's largest non-profit airline consumer advocacy group, applauded the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) efforts to improve airport security in the wake of this week's incident aboard a Northwest flight bound for Detroit. However, the group warned that a large number of its members have expressed concerns that the new TSA procedures, including the 'one-hour rule', may place an undue burden on passengers.

"Obviously, safety during air travel must be the number one priority for everyone. However, we caution the TSA to fully consider the ramifications of these new rules, and take all steps necessary to ensure they are implemented with common sense and respect for the dignity of passengers. While it may seem obvious that airlines would implement these rules with a liberal dose of common sense, history has proven otherwise," said Kate Hanni, spokesperson for FlyersRight.org.

Our membership is concerned that the new procedures could so infringe on basic passenger needs that some travelers will find it necessary to avoid air travel altogether. In particular, we are concerned that the newly implemented "one hour rule", which severely restricts passengers' activities in the last hour of a flight, may pose health and safety risks for many people. Activities potentially banned during the last hour of a flight include: using the restroom, giving formula to a baby, taking vital medications, and stretching one's legs to avoid blood clots. We caution the TSA to restrict passengers' in-flight activities sparingly, and only when such restrictions have a direct and measurable correlation to improved safety.

Continued Hanni, "We can restrict passenger behavior ad infinitum in the hopes of preventing some future catastrophe, but, at some point, we will lose our identities as Americans. When it gets to the point when we can no longer feed a young child or access our handbag, we have to ask ourselves who is really winning this battle."

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Three Years Later: FlyersRights Is Still Protecting You From The Not So Friendly Skies

/PRNewswire/ -- Three years ago today, 13,800 people boarded 138 American Airlines jets in hopes of reaching Dallas Fort Worth for their connecting flights during a crowded holiday season in late 2006/early 2007. Yet, all 138 of these flights were diverted to 24 airports in and around Texas to endure what would be for some people -- including Kate Hanni and family -- a painful and life-changing ordeal. In Hanni's case, she and her family were stuck on an airport tarmac for 9 hours and 17 minutes without water, food, or usable toilets. That is when she decided to take action.

"FlyersRights.org has become, in 3 short years, the organization that airline passengers rely on to stand up for them and fight for their rights," said Kate Hanni, Executive Director FlyersRights.org. "It is rather amazing what we have accomplished, together, during such a brief period of time":

-- The introduction of 9 airline passengers' rights bills before Congress
-- The House of Representatives' twice passing our airline passengers'
bills
-- The passage of the New York Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights Law
(later overturned by the appellate court).
-- The passage of the currently-in-force Department of Transportation
(DOT) regulation requiring airlines to report time on the tarmac for
diverted, canceled and multiple gate return flights.
-- The DOT's doubling the bumping compensation for flights that are
oversold from $200-$400 to $400-$800 respectively.
-- The DOT's mandating that airlines note at point of purchase their
baggage fees so there are no surprises!
-- Completion and implementation of a DOT rule requiring airlines to
allow passengers off flights after 3 hour delays and taking care of
the essential needs of passengers while trapped on the tarmac.

FlyersRights.org looks forward to final passage of the FAA Modernization act S: 1451 which contains many further provisions for airline passengers that will make their travel by air safer, healthier and more tolerable. We intend to be the voice for all air travelers indefinitely!

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European Courts Grant Historic New Law for Airline Passengers Rights: Will U.S. Ever Follow?

/PRNewswire/ -- Flyersrights.org and its President, Kate Hanni, applaud the decision handed down in a European court today which will require airlines in the European Union to compensate victims of mass delays for which they are responsible. Those who are forced to wait three hours or more will be compensated 600 Euros, the same as if their flight had been cancelled. But the airlines will be required NOT to cancel the flight unless it fits strict criteria as set down in this historic new law.

The decision, handed down by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, "is an important step forward," according to Hanni, "in creating a legal acknowledgment that the rights of victims, abused and ignored by the big airlines for far too long, will be given priority over the bloodless corporations that have simply taken it for granted that they engage in any behavior, no matter how injurious it is to consumers, without fearing repercussion. Imagine being stuffed like a sardine in a hot metal tube, without working toilets, food or water or access to medicines for over three hours, with no rights?"

Hendrik Noorderhaven EU Claim, FlyersRights.org EU counterpart and Global Partner said "This is a Historic decision for airline passengers in the EU, and in particular, any passengers traveling to the EU who suffer through anything greater than a 3 hour delay. They will now be reimbursed for this suffering with cash."

Hanni took it a step further, questioning why the United States has not yet taken similar measures to protect its citizens from this kind of corporate abuse.

"Sadly, the U.S. is woefully behind in prioritizing the rights of its consumers. Why hasn't Congress passed the Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, created in bipartisan fashion by Senators Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe, inserting it into the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009? Why can I still be held hostage on a tarmac for 9 hours without any rights? The time to sit idly by and allow big airlines to treat their passengers like jet fuel is long past. We deserve nothing less in the Unites States than the very same rights the courts have just granted to consumers living in democracies across the European continent."

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