II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 947 

To protect passengers on flights in air transportation from being denied 

boarding involuntarily, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. 

CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. 

MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To protect passengers on flights in air transportation from 

being denied boarding involuntarily, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency Improve5 ments and Compensation to Keep Every Ticketholder Safe 

6 Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘TICKETS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PASSENGERS FROM BEING DE2 NIED BOARDING INVOLUNTARILY. 

3 (a) RIGHT TO FLY OF BOARDED PASSENGERS.—An 

4 air carrier may not, on or after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, deny boarding a flight operated by the air car6 rier to a passenger without the consent of the passenger 

7 once the passenger is approved by the gate attendant to 

8 clear the boarding area and board the flight unless the 

9 passenger presents a safety, security, or health risk, as 

10 determined by the Secretary of Transportation. 

11 (b) ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON COMPENSATION

12 FOR BEING DENIED BOARDING.—Not later than 180 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of Transportation shall revise the regulations under 

15 part 250 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to elimi16 nate the dollar amount limitations under paragraphs (2) 

17 and (3) of subsections (a) and (b) of section 250.5 of such 

18 title on the amount of compensation that may be provided 

19 to a passenger who is denied boarding involuntarily. 

20 (c) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF SEATS THAT MAY

21 BE OVERSOLD.—In revising under subsection (b) the reg22 ulations under part 250 of title 14, Code of Federal Regu23 lations, the Secretary shall— 

24 (1) determine whether a limitation on the num25 ber of seats that may be oversold for a flight is nec26 essary; and 


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1 (2) if the Secretary determines that such a limi2 tation is necessary, consider whether to impose such 

3 a limitation based on a percentage of the seats avail4 able on an aircraft. 

5 (d) REGULATIONS RELATING TO ACCOMMODATION

6 OF AIR CARRIER EMPLOYEES.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 shall prescribe regulations requiring an air carrier seeking 

9 accommodation on a flight for an employee of the air car10 rier or another air carrier to check that employee in for 

11 the flight not later than 60 minutes before the flight is 

12 scheduled to depart. 

13 (e) NOTICE OF POLICIES OF AIR CARRIERS ON

14 OVERSOLD FLIGHTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre16 scribe regulations requiring— 

17 (1) an air carrier, or other entity selling tickets 

18 for flights in passenger air transportation, to speci19 fy, on a passenger’s flight itinerary and receipt, the 

20 policies of the air carrier operating the flight with 

21 respect to oversold flights and with respect to requir22 ing passengers to give up seats to employees of the 

23 air carrier; and 

24 (2) an air carrier to post those policies publicly 

25 at each gate of the air carrier at an airport. 


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1 (f) AIR CARRIER DEFINED.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘‘air carrier’’ means an air carrier or foreign air car3 rier, as those terms are defined in section 40102 of title 

4 49, United States Code. 

Æ 


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