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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?

Over the weekend, Joe Brancatelli wrote in to give the issue some historical context. The last time there was a real effort to legislate passenger rights, in 1999, airlines responded with “customer commitments” or “customer service plans,” which are still alive and well on various carriers’ websites.

These plans amount to a list of promises and goals, to which each company vows to adhere. Notably, however, these plans are NOT incorporated into the contract of carriage, and therefore carry no legal weight. They’re a voluntary set of promises, but promises are made to be broken. (Much like Delta’s promise to never put expiration dates on their frequent flyer miles, a promise they went back on recently… but I digress.)

In a 1999 column, Joe argued that the customer service plans were a sham. To this day, American Airlines’ customer service plan still includes this final paragraph:

We take the customer service goals in this plan very seriously. We know that you expect nothing less. However, the Customer Service Plan does not create contractual or legal rights. Rather, our contractual rights and obligations are set out in our conditions of carriage, applicable tariffs, and ticket jacket, all of which provide additional details on the matters discussed and must be consulted to fully understand your rights and our obligations. For example, we are not responsible for any special, incidental, or consequential damages for delays, cancellations, lost baggage, late refunds, or instances in which we do not meet our service goals.

So I share Joe’s pessimism. It’s nice that the airlines would acknowledge that a problem exists, but if the industry doesn’t put any legal meat on these customer service bones by incorporating them into the contract of carriage, then it’s really not worth celebrating. The proposed policies are probably just a cheap imitation of a real set of passengers’ rights. They’re a cynical effort to head off legislation. Keep up the fight.

Related:
- Earlier posts on Passengers’ Bill of Rights