American Airlines tries to pre-empt Passengers’ Bill of Rights
First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!
Consumer interest in the proposed Passengers’ Bill of Rights must be gaining momentum, because American Airlines just blinked. The company is publicly making policy changes, in an obvious attempt to avoid regulation.
The Global Traveller caught wind of this last night, and details are now more readily available:
American Airlines Inc. says it won’t hold passengers on grounded aircraft more than four hours, a policy born from a December debacle in which thousands of passengers spent hours in Austin and elsewhere waiting for storms to pass inside crowded parked planes.
[…]
In addition to the four-hour policy, American is making changes at its systems operations control center in Fort Worth to better handle diversions and make sure officials are aware when passengers’ wait times are building up.The airline is creating a position to oversee diversions and help schedule flights to get passengers back to their connecting hubs.
It is developing automation tools to warn managers when passengers have been on the ground a long time.
The carrier said it also was “reviewing all procedures related to customer handling and make appropriate changes as needed.”
[…]
4,600 customers on 67 planes sat more than three hours Dec. 29, a good portion of whom were kept on board for more than four hours.American is sending apologies and vouchers of up to $500 to passengers who were subjected to waits of three hours or more on the ground.
Four hours in a parked plane is still more than the three hours that the draft passenger bill of rights calls for, but it’s better than nine…
Interestingly, too, the airline is trying to buy off the angry passengers by throwing them $500 in vouchers, six weeks after the debacle.
Something tells me that Kate Hanni and the other “stranded passengers” won’t be mollified by a promise and a voucher. They shouldn’t be. It’s good that the airline is acknowledging that there are problems with the way it does business, but more needs to be done.
Related:
- Will a passenger bill of rights be enforceable?
- Update: How to support the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights
- Do we need a passenger bill of rights?
(image)
RSS Feed / Subscribe
Subscribe to Posts by Email
February 10th, 2007 at 5:49 pm |
[…] American Airlines is offering free first class upgrades to passengers traveling between New York JFK and London Heathrow. On April 10, 2007, they will begin year round service to Rome from both O’Hare and JFK. American is changing policy, due to a proposed “Passenger Bill of Rights” proposed after an 8 hour delay for one aircraft. Many large carriers have internal policies in place for this sort of situation. […]
February 10th, 2007 at 7:12 pm |
Thanks for the update. The vouchers are reported as being UP TO $500.
February 12th, 2007 at 5:34 pm |
[…] As reported a few days ago, American Airlines is trying to undermine the proposed Passengers’ Bill of Rights by announcing policy changes that promise service improvements, such as limits on the time passengers spend sitting in aircraft while parked on the tarmac. But should we trust this new policy? […]
February 14th, 2007 at 2:12 am |
I’ve never heard a newsbyte regarding passengers contesting - with the flight crew - the length of time waiting on a tarmac and actually successfully being let off. Is their such a documented case?
-dc
February 14th, 2007 at 7:08 pm |
[…] This evening, we reported that Jetblue had stranded passengers on several planes for more hours than even they thought were accepted, and followed up on American’s response to their similar situation. Our counterpart at Upgrade Travel reported on their attempt to take the wind out of the sails of the Passenger Bill of Rights…the way they and the other carriers did in 1999. […]
February 18th, 2007 at 10:04 pm |
[…] Just like American Airlines tried to pre-empt regulation by promising to change its policies, jetBlue is trying to avoid oversight by instituting a new policy. The airline is smart to put money where its mouth is, and this proposed penalty scheme sounds stronger (and more explicit) than any of the customer service plans that airlines created back in 1999. But it remains to be seen if this promise will be legally incorporated into the contract of carriage or not. If it’s not in the contract, then it’s not binding. […]
March 6th, 2007 at 12:36 pm |
[…] First, American put a four-hour cap on the amount of time they’d leave a customer on the plane. (Thanks, Global Traveller and Upgrade: Travel Better) They also promised technology upgrades to help prevent the problems from occurring again. […]
March 8th, 2007 at 1:08 am |
[…] First, American put a four-hour cap on the amount of time they’d leave a customer on the plane. (Thanks, Global Traveller and Upgrade: Travel Better) They also promised technology upgrades to help prevent the problems from occurring again. […]
March 11th, 2007 at 11:39 am |
[…] cap on the amount of time they’d leave a customer on the plane. (Thanks, Global Traveller and Upgrade: Travel Better) They also promised technology upgrades to help prevent the problems from occurring […]
June 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am |
They may have a cap of 4 hours, but will strand you in Dallas with all connection flights cancelled and not get you to your destination for 2 days with no payment of hotel fees.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:50 pm |
After a 4 hour wait on the ground and a 2 hour flight, you can probably have just driven to your location for less than half the price with what ever amenities your vehicle has to offer and the ability to pull over when ever you feel necessary. So if that’s their policy, why bother flying?