II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2891

To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair treatment for airline

passengers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 19, 2000

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair

treatment for airline passengers.

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 ‘‘Air Travelers Fair

5 Treatment Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FAIR TREATMENT OF AIRLINE PASSENGERS.

7 Section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, is

8 amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘On the initiative’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘(a) DUTY OF THE SECRETARY.—On the initiative’’;

3 and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PRACTICES.—For purposes of sub6 section (a), the terms ‘unfair or deceptive practice’ and

7 ‘unfair method of competition’ include each of the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘(1) FLIGHT DELAYS.—The failure of an air

10 carrier or foreign air carrier to provide a passenger

11 of the carrier with an accurate explanation of the

12 reasons for a flight delay, cancellation, or diversion

13 from a ticketed itinerary.

14 ‘‘(2) PRICING POLICIES.—Any action of an air

15 carrier or foreign air carrier—

16 ‘‘(A) to prohibit a person (including a gov17 ernmental entity) that purchases air transpor18 tation from only using a portion of the air

19 transportation purchased (including using the

20 air transportation purchased only for 1-way

21 travel instead of round-trip travel); or

22 ‘‘(B) to assess an additional fee on or

23 charge to—

24 ‘‘(i) such a person; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) any ticket agent that sold the air

2 transportation to such person.

3 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF TICKET AGENTS.—In

4 the case of a termination, cancellation, nonrenewal,

5 or substantial change in the competitive cir6 cumstances of the appointment of a ticket agent by

7 an air carrier or foreign air carrier, the failure of

8 the air carrier or foreign air carrier—

9 ‘‘(A) to provide the ticket agent with writ10 ten notice, and a full statement of reasons for

11 the action, on or before the 90th day preceding

12 the action; and

13 ‘‘(B) to provide the ticket agent with at

14 least 60 days to correct any deficiency claimed

15 in the written notice,

16 except in cases of insolvency, an assignment for the

17 benefit of creditors, bankruptcy, or nonpayment of

18 sums due under the appointment.’’.

19 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING ENFORCEMENT OF

20 STATE LAWS.

21 Section 41713(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code,

22 is amended by striking ‘‘related to a price, route, or service

23 of an air carrier that may provide air transportation under

24 this subpart’’ and inserting ‘‘that directly prescribes a
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1 price, route, or level of service for air transportation pro2 vided by an air carrier under this subpart’’.

3 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE; RIGHT OF

4 EGRESS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 417 of

6 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

7 end the following:

8 ‘‘§ 41717. Airline passenger rights

9 ‘‘(a) RIGHT TO IN-FLIGHT EMERGENCY MEDICAL

10 CARE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor12 tation shall prescribe regulations to establish min13 imum standards for resuscitation, emergency med14 ical, and first-aid equipment and supplies to be car15 ried on board an aircraft operated by an air carrier

16 in air transportation that is capable of carrying at

17 least 30 passengers.

18 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regula19 tions under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall

20 consider—

21 ‘‘(A) the weight and size of the equipment

22 described in paragraph (1);

23 ‘‘(B) the need for special training of air

24 carrier personnel to operate the equipment safe25 ly and effectively;
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1 ‘‘(C) the space limitations of each type of

2 aircraft;

3 ‘‘(D) the effect of the regulations on air4 craft operations;

5 ‘‘(E) the practical experience of airlines in

6 carrying and operating similar equipment; and

7 ‘‘(F) other relevant factors.

8 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Before prescribing regu9 lations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con10 sult with the Surgeon General.

11 ‘‘(b) RIGHT TO EXIT AIRCRAFT.—No air carrier or

12 foreign air carrier operating an aircraft in air transpor13 tation shall prevent or hinder (including by failing to as14 sist) any passenger from exiting the aircraft (under the

15 same circumstances as any member of the flight crew is

16 permitted to exit the aircraft) if—

17 ‘‘(1) the aircraft is parked at an airport ter18 minal gate with access to ramp or other facilities

19 through which passengers are customarily boarded

20 and deplaned;

21 ‘‘(2) the aircraft has remained at the gate more

22 than 1 hour past its scheduled departure time; and

23 ‘‘(3) the captain of the aircraft has not been in24 formed by air traffic control authorities that the air-
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1 craft can be cleared for departure within 15 min2 utes.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

4 subchapter I of chapter 417 of title 49, United States

5 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘41717. Airline passenger rights.’’.

6 SEC. 5. ENSURING CONSUMER ACCESS TO TRAVEL INFOR7 MATION.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com9 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission to En10 sure Consumer Information and Choice in the Airline In11 dustry’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

12 (b) DUTIES.—

13 (1) STUDY.—The Commission shall undertake a

14 study of—

15 (A) consumer access to information about

16 the products and services of the airline indus17 try;

18 (B) the effect on the marketplace of the

19 emergence of new means of distributing such

20 products and services;

21 (C) the effect on consumers of the declin22 ing financial condition of travel agents in the

23 United States; and

24 (D) the impediments imposed by the air25 line industry on distributors of the industry’s
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1 products and services, including travel agents

2 and Internet-based distributors.

3 (2) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the

4 results of the study described in paragraph (1), the

5 Commission shall recommend to the President and

6 Congress policies necessary—

7 (A) to ensure full consumer access to com8 plete information concerning airline fares,

9 routes, and other services;

10 (B) to ensure that the means of distrib11 uting the products and services of the airline in12 dustry, and of disseminating information about

13 such products and services, is adequate to en14 sure that competitive information is available in

15 the marketplace;

16 (C) to ensure that distributors of the prod17 ucts and services of the airline industry have

18 adequate relief from illegal, anticompetitive

19 practices that occur in the marketplace; and

20 (D) to foster healthy competition in the

21 airline industry and the entry of new entrants.

22 (c) SPECIFIC MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—In car23 rying out the study authorized under subsection (b)(1),

24 the Commission shall specifically address the following:
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1 (1) CONSUMER ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—

2 With respect to consumer access to information re3 garding the services and products offered by the air4 line industry:

5 (A) The state of such access.

6 (B) The effect of such access over the next

7 5 years of the making of alliances in the airline

8 industry.

9 (C) Whether and to what degree the trends

10 regarding such access will produce benefits to

11 consumers.

12 (2) MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION.—With respect to

13 the means of distributing the products and services

14 of the airline industry:

15 (A) The state of such means of distribu16 tion.

17 (B) The roles played by travel agencies

18 and Internet-based providers of travel informa19 tion and services in distributing such products

20 and services.

21 (C) Whether the policies of the United

22 States promote the access of consumers to mul23 tiple means of distribution.

24 (3) AIRLINE RESERVATION SYSTEMS.—With re25 spect to airline reservation systems:
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1 (A) The rules, regulations, policies, and

2 practices of the industry governing such sys3 tems.

4 (B) How trends in such systems will affect

5 consumers, including—

6 (i) the effect on consumer access to

7 flight reservation information; and

8 (ii) the effect on consumers of the use

9 by the airline industry of penalties and

10 promotions to convince distributors to use

11 such systems, and the degree of consumer

12 awareness of such penalties and pro13 motions.

14 (4) LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS TO DISTRIBUTORS

15 SEEKING RELIEF FOR ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS.—

16 The policies of the United States with respect to the

17 legal impediments to distributors seeking relief for

18 anticompetitive actions, including—

19 (A) Federal preemption of civil actions

20 against airlines; and

21 (B) the role of the Department of Trans22 portation in enforcing rules against anti23 competitive practices.

24 (d) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be

2 composed of 15 voting members and 11 nonvoting

3 members as follows:

4 (A) 5 voting members and 1 nonvoting

5 member appointed by the President.

6 (B) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

7 members appointed by the Speaker of the

8 House of Representatives.

9 (C) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

10 members appointed by the Minority Leader of

11 the House of Representatives.

12 (D) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

13 members appointed by the Majority Leader of

14 the Senate.

15 (E) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

16 members appointed by the Minority Leader of

17 the Senate

18 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Voting members ap19 pointed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be ap20 pointed from among individuals who are experts in

21 economics, service product distribution, or transpor22 tation, or any related discipline, and who can rep23 resent consumers, passengers, shippers, travel

24 agents, airlines, or general aviation.
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1 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for

2 the life of the Commission.

3 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission

4 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

5 appointment was made.

6 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall serve

7 without pay but shall receive travel expenses, includ8 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance

9 with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

10 States Code.

11 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—The President, in consulta12 tion with the Speaker of the House of Representa13 tives and the majority leader of the Senate, shall

14 designate the Chairperson of the Commission from

15 among its voting members.

16 (e) COMMISSION PANELS.—The Chairperson shall es17 tablish such panels consisting of voting members of the

18 Commission as the Chairperson determines appropriate to

19 carry out the functions of the Commission.

20 (f) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and fix

21 the pay of such personnel as it considers appropriate.

22 (g) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request

23 of the Commission, the head of any department or agency

24 of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable basis,

25 any of the personnel of that department or agency to the
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1 Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under

2 this section.

3 (h) OTHER STAFF AND SUPPORT.—Upon the request

4 of the Commission, or a panel of the Commission, the Sec5 retary of Transportation shall provide the Commission or

6 panel with professional and administrative staff and other

7 support, on a reimbursable basis, to assist the Commission

8 or panel in carrying out its responsibilities.

9 (i) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission

10 may secure directly from any department or agency of the

11 United States information (other than information re12 quired by any statute of the United States to be kept con13 fidential by such department or agency) necessary for the

14 Commission to carry out its duties under this section.

15 Upon request of the Commission, the head of that depart16 ment or agency shall furnish such nonconfidential infor17 mation to the Commission.

18 (j) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

19 on which initial appointments of members to the Commis20 sion are completed, the Commission shall transmit to the

21 President and Congress a report on the activities of the

22 Commission, including recommendations made by the

23 Commission under subsection (b)(2).

24 (k) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

25 on the 30th day following the date of transmittal of the
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1 report under subsection (l). All records and papers of the

2 Commission shall thereupon be delivered by the Adminis3 trator of General Services for deposit in the National Ar4 chives.

5 (l) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

6 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act

7 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission.

Æ