Still on the Tarmac 1

Passengers Bill of Rights:

Still on the Tarmac

Introduction

Like a multitude of other countries, the citizens of the United States are entitled to
a number of liberties. These liberties, ratified in 1791, have restrained the government
from infringing upon its citizens natural abilities for over two hundred and seventeen
years. Although at times these liberties may have been treaded upon and looked past by
the federal government, they are still intact for any citizen to argue his or her right to
them.
The times have changed greatly in the past 200 years. In place of horses and
carriages we now have trains, buses, subways, and even airplanes to get the masses of us
from point a to point b. Along with these great innovations in mass transit technology
come great consequences, high-speed crashes, mechanical failure, and at times
uncomfortable desertion in rather unfortunate and difficult circumstances. With all of the
commotion, it is hard to hear the complaints of the passengers, with control of these
rather large machines (rightfully left in the hands of a few skilled people) governed by a
vast assortment of regulations and long chains of command. Commercial aircraft,
supervised by not only their company’s regulations, but also the Federal Aviation
Administration, a government agency with the vision to, “Improve the safety and
efficiency of aviation, while being responsive to our customers and accountable to the
public.” It is hard to believe such a vision when flyers are held on a tarmac in excess of 5
hours deprived of food, water, and clean toilet facilities.i

American Airlines

Friday December 29, 2006 American Airlines re-directed 121 of their flights to
Austin Texas in hopes of escaping dangerous weather. American Airlines flight #1348
from San Francisco to Dallas is normally a three and a half hour flight. On Friday
December 29, 2007, it turned into a 9-hour flight with the pilot finally taking recourse
and taxiing to a terminal without permission. Reportedly, during that time, toilets began
to back up, food and water diminished, and medical issues became prevalent amongst
passengers.ii
Kate Hanni a Californian, crusader of the Passenger’s Bill of Rights and founder
of the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rightsiii, along with fellow aggravated
flyer Catherine Ray a resident of Arkansas, filed lawsuits in late December the following
year. American Airlines reportedly sent out apologies and flight vouchers to affected
flyers. The Department of Transportation inspector general released a statement saying
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that, "American Airlines did provide food, water and tolerable restroom facilities on the
aircraft delayed in Austin; however, some passengers felt American’s efforts were
inadequate in that regard.”iv

Jet Blue Airways

On Wednesday February 14, 2007, Jet Blue Airlines ran into a similar incident as
an ice storm passed through the JFK international airport in New York City. Some
passengers waited eleven hours crammed in airplanes. A passenger waiting to depart for
Cancun Mexico never even made it airborne. The passenger said that they passed out
potato chips, and periodically cracking the hatch to let in fresh air. Witnessing companies
such as American Airlines deal with horrific public relations issues such as the one in
Dallas Texas, Jet Blue played an interesting public relations card.v
In light of their most recent disaster at JFK Jet Blue on December 29 2006,
introduced their own version of a passenger’s bill of rights. They claim they will
reimburse passengers with $25 dollars for being stuck on the tarmac for an hour, handing
them a voucher for the full amount if they are stranded for longer than four hours, and in
the case the plane is stuck on the tarmac for more than 4 hours they promise to find you a
way off. However, they only plan to reimburse passengers if the situation is within Jet
Blue’s control. Contrary to what the average customer may presume this was a proposal,
nothing about it was binding—it will not hold up in the court of law.vi

Northwest Airlines

Flight 936 planned to arrive in LA during the morning hours of Christmas

morning. However, due to heavy fog the plane rerouted to Ontario. Seven hours after
arriving, the passengers of flight 936 were allowed to step off the airplane. Flight 936
which included prominent copyright attorney, Jeffrey Sheldon and his two teenage
daughters, were only few upon the many trapped aboard this flight. After being held on
the airplane for over 6 hours, some passengers--including the Sheldon’s, chose to seek
alternate means of getting home. The Sheldon’s chose to drive back, resulting in 24
hours without sleep.
On December 27, 2001, The Sheldon family later filed a lawsuit through Joseph
Lisoni and Steven E. Weinberger. The charges against the airline were for, “False
 Still on the Tarmac 3

Imprisonment, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Negligence, and Breach of

Contract”. Weinberger also stated that Northwest Airlines has a Airline Customers First
Service Plan, which specifies that if the airplane has not reached it’s specified gate one
hour after landing it calls for the pilot to move to another gate or somewhere where the
passengers may deplane.”vii

New York

A passenger bill of rights passed and signed by New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer in
the beginning of August 2007 had a brief life span. The airline companies considered the
bill preempted by federal statutes, claming it is invalid under federal law. The law
mandated fines of up to $1,000 dollars per passenger for carriers that do not comply with
it. The law did not ask for much mainly just, food, water, clean rest rooms, and fresh air
to passengers grounded for longer than three hours.viii
The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York later overturned New
York’s passenger bill of rights in a 3-0 ruling of late March of 2008, just eight months
after it was passed. The Court said the New York Passenger’s Bill of Rights did conflict
with the 1978 federal law, which prohibited any state from regulating airline prices,
routes or services. That law prohibited states from regulating airline prices, routes, or
services. This U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling is binding in federal courts in New
York, Vermont, and Connecticut.ix
In the fight for the Airline Passenger Bill of rights is Sen. Charles Schumer (D-
NY). He claims that the main reason why federal court struck down New York’s bill was
because any law confronting such an issue should be cognizant of the essential interstate
nature of airplane travel.x Roger Cohen, a spokesman for the RAA (Regional Airline
Association) was rightfully glad of the courts ruling to strike down the NY law, saying,
“We're very glad that the federal appeals court recognized that airline services, by very
definition, are federal in nature and that federal law should be applied.”xi This might be
thought of as good news for other states such as California who have modeled their
recent Passenger’s Bill of Rights after the New York bill. The Airport Administration
representing major U.S. airlines remarked that this ruling should send “a strong message
to other states that are considering similar legislation.”xii
 Still on the Tarmac 4

California

On Monday March 24 2008, the California Bill of Rights passed through the
Transportation Committee; the next step for this bill is the Judiciary committee.
Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco California who is spearheading
the California Passengers Bill of rights claims to have been very sharp in writing his bill,
“We have crafted our bill very narrowly so it just deals with the health and well-being of
the passenger... fresh air, water, light, snack foods and working bathrooms.”xiii
Something that might have helped this bill move along in California and not in
New York was in 1998 the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled
that states were left free to regulate such things as baggage handling, personal assistance
to passengers and other amenities while the federal law only covered transportation
services. Although “transportation services” is not exactly a concrete term and some say
that could mean it could ride all the way to the Supreme Court. The Ninth U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals ruling has held for over a decade.xiv

Federal Legislation

In February of 1999 Republican0 presidential hopeful Senator John McCain held

a hearing in which he spotlighted several terrible tales of stranded passengers, unfair
treatment, lost luggage, cancellations, rude employees, etc. Accompanying these
troubling and stirring stories was his Airline Passengers Fairness Act. The Airline
Fairness crusade spearheaded by McCain ended up being turned down a couple notches
before it was finally approved. McCain’s bill was soon replaced with a much lesser
potent one. The watered down version of Senator McCain’s Passengers Bill of Rights
supposedly does nothing more than reinforce the airlines own rules. Aviation Consumer
Action Project director Paul Hudson claims that he was stunned upon hearing the
decision saying that it was a giveaway.xv
The day prior to the committee vote, American Airlines made a rather large
 Still on the Tarmac 5

deposit into the National Republican Senatorial Committee at the sum of $85,000 dollars,
and also made another donation of $50,000 to another GOP committee the day of the
vote. In the first six months of the year alone the airlines all together spent in excess of
one million dollars on political donations, including $982,000 in soft money and almost 3
million dollars in lobbying.xvi McCain went on later to admit that money makes things
happen in Washington by going on to say, “I’ve admitted that I've fallen prey to it myself,
big people have access to my office that ordinary American’s don’t have.”xvii
Currently leading the fight in Washington for a federal Passenger Bill of Rights
are Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Their bill would guarantee
passengers clean water restroom facilities and a chance to deplane when the flight is
delayed in excess of 3 hours. The bill it self is very straightforward and with traveler
complaints up in excess of 50 percent within the last year it’s importance grows by the
day.xviii

Conclusion

We needed a Bill of Rights when this country was founded to keep the
Government from infringing on our natural abilities. Now we have large companies
holding us hostage and denying our rights to natural necessities such as food, water and a
place to use the restroom. However, one must take into consideration that sometimes
rights are abused. It’s an inevitable part of life, when you give some people an inch,
someone will always end up taking a mile. Flying in airplanes for some has become a
monthly routine. So the need for such a bill is critical but first there needs to be someone
to point the finger at. There isn’t one person to blame for this difficult and rather
bothersome, prolonged airplane dilemma. There are the companies, which are dealing
with a very tough fuel price issue accompanied by a growing interest in travel. Domestic
airlines, which provide travel for more than 500 million passengers a year, is expected to
double in the next ten years.xix With industry profits soaring due to the growing interest
in flying, now seems like a pretty important time for companies to make amends with
their customers.
i
FAA Misson Statement. http://www.faa.gov/about/mission/
ii
“AA Apologizes After Passengers Stuck On Plane For 9 Hours” 11:13 PM.
NBC5i.com. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 11:13 am CST January 11th 2007.Copyright2007.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/10723551/detail.html
iii
Snyder Jim. “FAA bill put on standby” April 14, 2008 07:59 PM ET. Copyright 2008 Capitol Hill
Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/faa-
bill-put-on-standby-2008-04-14.html
iv
Martinez Michael. “Angry Passengers Sue Airlines” January 20, 2008 01:41:16 AM PST. Copyright
2008 San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8025843?nclick_check=1
v
Miller Leslie (writer David Caruso contributed from New York) (Associated Press Writers) “Govt.:
Air Passengers Have No Recourse” Thursday, February 15, 2007, 9:43 PM PST. San Francisco
Chronicle. Copyright 2008 Hearst Communications Inc. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/15/national/w160638S63.DTL&type=politics
vi
Smith Robert. “JetBlue Offers Passengers Rights, Compensation” All Things Considered, February
20, 2007. National Public Radio. Copyright 2008 NPR.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7501286
vii

“Family Files Lawsuit Against Northwest Airlines for Holding Them “Hostage” on
Airplane Christmas Day.” Thursday, December 27 2001. Business Wire. Pasadena, CA.
Copyright 1999 – 2008 AllBusiness.com, Inc. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Business Wire
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/torts-Damages/6159027-1.html
viii

Karp Aaron. “New York Passes ‘passenger bill of rights,’ first of it’s kind in US” Tuesday August 7,
2007. ATW Daily News. Copyright 2008 Penton Media, Inc.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=9795
ix

Egelko Bob, Chronicle Staff Writer. “N.Y.’s Passenger Bill of Rights Struck Down” Wednesday,
March 26, 2008. SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle. Copyright 2008 Hearst Communications.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/MN5IVQ7MD.DTL
x

Dowdy R. Zachary. “Schumer urges Federal Air Passenger Rights Bill” March 31, 2008.
Newsday.com Copyright 2008 Newsday Inc. http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-
lischu315633033mar31,0,3305387.story
xi

Dowdy R. Zachary. “Schumer urges Federal Air Passenger Rights Bill” March 31, 2008.
Newsday.com Copyrightt 2008 Newsday Inc. http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-
lischu315633033mar31,0,3305387.story
xii

Egelko Bob, Chronicle Staff Writer. “N.Y.’s Passenger Bill of Rights Struck Down” Wednesday,
March 26, 2008. SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle. Copyright 2008 Hearst Communications.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/MN5IVQ7MD.DTL
xiii

Egelko Bob, Chronicle Staff Writer. “N.Y.’s Passenger Bill of Rights Struck Down” Wednesday,
March 26, 2008. SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle. Copyright 2008 Hearst Communications.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/MN5IVQ7MD.DTL
xiv

Egelko Bob, Chronicle Staff Writer. “N.Y.’s Passenger Bill of Rights Struck Down” Wednesday,
March 26, 2008. SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle. Copyright 2008 Hearst Communications.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/MN5IVQ7MD.DTL
xv

Grunwald Michael. “As ‘Soft Money’ Flew In, A McCain Crusade Faded; Airlines Thwarted
Passenger Rights Bill; [FINAL Edition]” October 20, 1999. Pg. A.01. The Washington Post.
Copyright The Washington Post Company Oct 20, 1999.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=04-14-2013&FMT=7&DID=45698252&RQT=309
xvi

Grunwald Michael. “As ‘Soft Money’ Flew In, A McCain Crusade Faded; Airlines Thwarted
Passenger Rights Bill; [FINAL Edition]” October 20, 1999. Pg. A.01. The Washington Post.
Copyright The Washington Post Company Oct 20, 1999.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=04-14-2013&FMT=7&DID=45698252&RQT=309
xvii

Grunwald Michael. “As ‘Soft Money’ Flew In, A McCain Crusade Faded; Airlines Thwarted
Passenger Rights Bill; [FINAL Edition]” October 20, 1999. Pg. A.01. The Washington Post.
Copyright The Washington Post Company Oct 20, 1999.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=04-14-2013&FMT=7&DID=45698252&RQT=309
xviii

“Up, Up and Away: Airline Complaints Soaring” April 7, 2008 Monday 7:48 PM ET. MSNBC.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23991380/
xix
Alonso-Zaldivar. “Frustrated Air Travelers May Get ‘Bill of Rights;’” March 11, 1999. Pg. 10. Los
Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif. Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1999.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=04-14-
2013&FMT=7&DID=39660574&RQT=309&cfc=1