I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1420 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require an air carrier to provide 

information to the public regarding its policies for imposing baggage 

fees and assisting passengers during a widespread disruption of service, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2017 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. LARSEN of Washington) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require an air 

carrier to provide information to the public regarding 

its policies for imposing baggage fees and assisting passengers during a widespread disruption of service, 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 ‘‘Know Before You Fly 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FEES. 

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

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE OF FEES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unfair or de6 ceptive practice under subsection (a) for any air car7 rier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent to fail to in8 clude, in an internet fare quotation for a specific 

9 itinerary in air transportation selected by a con10 sumer, a clear and prominent statement that addi11 tional fees for checked baggage and carry-on bag12 gage may apply, along with a prominent link from 

13 that internet website page directly to a list of all 

14 such fees. 

15 ‘‘(2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub16 section may be construed to derogate or limit any 

17 responsibilities of an air carrier, foreign air carrier, 

18 or ticket agent under section 399.85 of title 14, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor provi20 sion.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. WIDESPREAD DISRUPTIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 423 of title 49, United 

23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 42304. Widespread disruptions 

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—A covered air car3 rier shall publish, via a prominent link on the air carrier’s 

4 public internet website, a clear statement indicating 

5 whether or not, with respect to a passenger of the air car6 rier whose travel is interrupted as a result of a widespread 

7 disruption, the air carrier will— 

8 ‘‘(1) provide for hotel accommodations; 

9 ‘‘(2) arrange for ground transportation; 

10 ‘‘(3) provide meal vouchers; 

11 ‘‘(4) arrange for air transportation on another 

12 air carrier or foreign air carrier to the passenger’s 

13 destination; and 

14 ‘‘(5) provide for sleeping facilities, food, and 

15 water inside the airport terminal. 

16 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTATION ON OTHER AIR CARRIERS.— 

17 The information provided by a covered air carrier under 

18 subsection (a)(4) shall identify each air carrier and foreign 

19 air carrier with which the covered air carrier will arrange 

20 air transportation as described in subsection (a)(4). 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

22 definitions apply: 

23 ‘‘(1) WIDESPREAD DISRUPTION.—The term 

24 ‘widespread disruption’ means, with respect to a cov25 ered air carrier, the interruption of all or a substan26 tial portion of the air carrier’s system-wide flight opVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Mar 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1420.IH H1420

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1 erations, including flight delays and cancellations, as 

2 the result of the failure of one or more computer 

3 systems or computer networks of the air carrier. 

4 ‘‘(2) COVERED AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘cov5 ered air carrier’ means an air carrier that provides 

6 scheduled or public charter passenger air transpor7 tation by operating an aircraft that as originally de8 signed has a passenger capacity of thirty or more 

9 seats. 

10 ‘‘(d) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

11 may be construed to modify, abridge, or repeal any obliga12 tion of an air carrier under section 42301.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

14 chapter 423 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘42304. Widespread disruptions.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. CABIN AIR QUALITY. 

17 (a) DESIGNATION OF OFFICE.—Not later than 90 

18 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis19 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall des20 ignate an office of the Administration to receive and ana21 lyze reports involving fumes in the air conditioning and 

22 pressurization systems of aircraft operated under the pro23 visions of part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula24 tions. 


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1 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—If the head of the office 

2 designated under subsection (a) determines with respect 

3 to a report received under subsection (a) that corrective 

4 action would reduce the recurrence of an event described 

5 in the report, the head of the office shall transmit that 

6 determination to the Associate Administrator for Aviation 

7 Safety. 

8 (c) STANDARDIZED REPORTING.—Not later than 60 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis10 trator shall issue guidance to air carrier employees regard11 ing terminology and phraseology for standardized report12 ing of fume events in the Administration’s standard serv13 ice difficulty reports. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

16 the head of the office designated under subsection (a) shall 

17 submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra18 structure of the House of Representatives and the Com19 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

20 Senate a report on— 

21 (1) the number of reports received under sub22 section (a); 

23 (2) the disposition of the reports; and 


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1 (3) the status of the Administration’s imple2 mentation of any corrective actions identified under 

3 subsection (b). 

Æ 


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