Here and There

I hate to be all issues-voter about it, but this is awesome, and dispels my theory of Leno’s one-trick-ponyism.

The San Francisco assemblyman is sponsoring a stranded passengers’ rights bill for California. Now, if only we could get Texas “on board” …

More planes stranded on the tarmac yesterday in the Northeast.

Thing is, we’re going to run into these same weather-related problems for the foreseeable future. When they combine with mechanical and human errors, the result is stranded passengers.

So why not have a backup plan? A humane backup plan that gets people back to the gate and civilization, instead of the combustible hellholes the planes become after a few hours of false promises and backed-up toilets.

Curiously enough, the state of Florida is moving ahead with its own Passenger Bill of Rights.

Not sure what it’s gonna take for the U.S. Congress to open its ears to the issue, but this certainly doesn’t hurt.

I had a discussion last night with a friend about the so-called Passenger Bill of Rights, now gestating in Congress. To catch up new readers who don’t like to click links, I was on a plane in December bound for Dallas, rerouted to Austin because of bad weather, and left on the tarmac for 8.5 hours. In that time, we were constantly promised the following: travel to Dallas, food, shuttles to the gate. We ended the ordeal having been delivered one shipment of “catering” (the smallest bags of the smallest pretzels I’ve ever seen), and one shuttle after seven hours that took away 15 passengers. To add torture to insult, half of the passengers got their bags, half did not.

A small group of us organized, that group grew, and we were able to grab the ear of some of our representatives in Congress, who have agreed to try and help establish a national contingency plan. More than anything, it’s the kind of action I felt was appropriate after our ordeal.

Once the JetBlue incidents occurred, in mid-February, publicity was unstoppable, and suddenly the issue was on the radar (given its competition (Anna Nicole Smith, Iraq, Walter Reed, presidential politics), that’s quite a feat.

But back to my conversation last night. My friend sees the need for such action to be taken in the event of planes that aren’t able to fly, but doesn’t think it’s the responsibility of the federal government. Her argument is two-fold: one, it’s up to the airlines themselves to come up with the best contingency plans, and from there, the market can sort out which companies treat their customers with dignity; and two, how would such a national bill of rights be enforced anyway?

I see the merit in both arguments, and perhaps if I hadn’t had the experience burned into my brain, I could be persuaded.

But my point is this: monolithic companies like American Airlines (the culprit in my experience), United, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, and the like aren’t compelled to step up the way, say, JetBlue did (which, for the record, I applaud). The chances of what happened to us and JetBlue happening again are slim (though I have no doubt they’ll happen, chalked up 80 percent to human incompetency as they are), and so companies have the luxury of ignoring the issue and continuing to overcharge passengers. Those wise to the shortcomings of the majors will do their best to get their friends to fly the second-tier carriers, but things won’t automatically change unless there’s true incentive. Unless they’re compelled.

And isn’t it in these companies’ best interests, not to keep their customers happy, but to treat them like human beings? Those of us from the isolated incidents can only raise so much of a ruckus.

As far as enforcement goes, well, that’s a really good point. A system of fines should be imposed for airlines that violate the basic points of the bill of rights. Not sure what more to say. I think that would take care of things pretty quickly. On top of the fines themselves, airlines would face untold millions in legal costs should they decide to fight the penalties.

Another mechanism that I feel should be included is immunity for the airlines from legal action. Once such a set of rules were in place, passengers would essentially forfeit rights to legal recourse, and instead be privy to the compensations laid out in the bill. Should an airline not meet the rules of required compensation, the same mechanism that enforces fines would handle compensation.

The bottom line is this: I believe that markets should be left to play out as they will, but with a level playing field. A spot of regulation, in order to hold these faceless entities accountable to real people, is all it takes.

JetBlue announced today their own company bill of rights for passengers.

There are some valuable points to this, such as mandatory deplaning after a certain amount of time on the tarmac (five hours, in JetBlue’s case), and the option of refunds in addition to vouchers in the case of cancelled flights.

But besides not going far enough, there is no accountability (other than the arbitrary whims of marketplace mechanics) to ensure the contingencies are followed.

Which is precisely why we need federal legislation.

Please sign the petition and call/write/email your representatives in Congress. Whether or not you fly, or fly frequently, getting stuck on a plane without food, water, clean air, or clean toilets is surely something you want to safeguard against.

This time, it was Jet Blue, whose planes were stuck, in some cases, for 11 hours in NYC Wednesday.

Pleas sign the petition for a Passenger Bill of Rights, call your senators and representative in Congress, and generally raise hell. If that’s your thing.

UPDATE: word is Joe Scarborough was stuck on one the planes in New York yesterday, and now Bill O’Reilly (the most unlikely of bedfellows) is pushing for … well, something. It could be hearsay, but I may have to give Bill a click tonight to see him turn his infamous rage on an issue actually worthy of it.

Okay, I’ve resisted for a long time, for many different reasons, but I have a (condensed version of a) story to tell.

I was on a flight in December to Texas. The plane was diverted from DFW to Austin due to bad weather in Dallas. In Austin, our plane sat on the tarmac for 8.5 hours. With little to no food, overflowing toilets, and only two 15-person shuttles offered to us over that time, we waited, and waited, and waited, and were not allowed to taxi to the gate or off-board. There were people with medical issues, children, and elderly people, not to mention those of us who hadn’t eaten or slept.

Some passengers are in Washington, D.C. this week to urge lawmakers to pass a Passenger Bill of Rights to ensure this kind of thing never happens again. It happened to passengers of 14 Northwest Airlines flights in Detroit in 1999, so history is just repeating itself here.

And here’s where I’m really going out-of-bounds with Here and There: I’m asking you to at least check out this petition. It’s for congressman Mike Thompson of Napa Valley. He’s been our point-person in Congress (I tried getting through to my representative, but Madame Speaker is a little busy these days).

If you like the idea of having basic rights ensured when your plane is grounded or delayed, please sign the petition. If not, I understand. I’m not typically a petition-signer myself. But I do believe in holding U.S. companies to basic standards of service.

Thank you.