I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2200

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

passengers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 14, 1999

Mr. SWEENEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

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 ‘‘Omnibus Airline Pas5 senger Fair Treatment Act of 1999’’.

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 thereof 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) ACCESS TO FARES.—The failure of an air

10 carrier or foreign air carrier to provide a consumer

11 full access to all fares for air transportation provided

12 by the air carrier or foreign air carrier, regardless

13 of the technology or other method the consumer uses

14 to access the fares.

15 ‘‘(2) FLIGHT DELAYS.—The failure of an air

16 carrier or foreign air carrier to provide a passenger

17 of the carrier with an accurate explanation of the

18 reasons for a flight delay, cancellation, or diversion

19 from a ticketed itinerary.

20 ‘‘(3) PRICING POLICIES.—Any action of an air

21 carrier or foreign air carrier—

22 ‘‘(A) to prohibit a person (including a gov23 ernmental entity) that purchases air transpor24 tation from only using a portion of the air

25 transportation purchased (including using the
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1 air transportation purchased only for 1-way

2 travel instead of round-trip travel); or

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

4 charge to—

5 ‘‘(i) such a person; or

6 ‘‘(ii) any ticket agent that sold the air

7 transportation to such person.

8 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF TICKET AGENTS.—In

9 the case of a termination, cancellation, nonrenewal,

10 or substantial change in the competitive cir11 cumstances of the appointment of a ticket agent by

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

13 the air carrier or foreign air carrier—

14 ‘‘(A) to provide the ticket agent with writ15 ten notice, and a full statement of reasons for

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

17 the action; and

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

19 least 60 days to correct any deficiency claimed

20 in the written notice,

21 except in cases of insolvency, an assignment for the

22 benefit of creditors, bankruptcy, or nonpayment of

23 sums due under the appointment.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING ENFORCEMENT OF

2 STATE LAWS.

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

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

5 of an air carrier that may provide air transportation under

6 this subpart’’ and inserting ‘‘that directly prescribes a

7 price, route, or level of service for air transportation pro8 vided by an air carrier under this subpart’’.

9 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE, RIGHT OF

10 EGRESS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 417 of title 49, United

12 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing:

14 ‘‘§ 41717. Airline passenger rights

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

16 CARE.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor18 tation shall issue regulations to establish minimum

19 standards for resuscitation, emergency medical, and

20 first-aid equipment and supplies to be carried on

21 board an aircraft operated by an air carrier in air

22 transportation that is capable of carrying at least 30

23 passengers.

24 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing regulations

25 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider—
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1 ‘‘(A) the weight and size of the equipment

2 described in paragraph (1);

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

4 carrier personnel to operate the equipment safe5 ly and effectively;

6 ‘‘(C) the space limitations of each type of

7 aircraft;

8 ‘‘(D) the effect of the regulations on air9 craft operations;

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

11 carrying and operating similar equipment; and

12 ‘‘(F) other relevant factors.

13 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Before issuing regula14 tions under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con15 sult with the Surgeon General.

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

17 foreign air carrier operating an aircraft in air transpor18 tation shall prevent or hinder (including by failing to as19 sist) any passenger from exiting the aircraft (under the

20 same circumstances as any member of the flight crew is

21 permitted to exit the aircraft) if—

22 ‘‘(1) the aircraft is parked at an airport ter23 minal gate with access to ramp or other facilities

24 through which passengers are customarily boarded

25 and deplaned;
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1 ‘‘(2) the aircraft has remained at the gate more

2 than 1 hour past its scheduled departure time;

3 ‘‘(3) the captain of the aircraft has not been in4 formed by air traffic control authorities that the air5 craft can be cleared for departure within 15 min6 utes.’’.

7 SEC. 5. ENSURING CONSUMER ACCESS TO TRAVEL INFOR8 MATION.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

10 (1) The continued success of a deregulated air11 line system requires that consumers have full access

12 to complete information concerning airline fares,

13 routes, and other services.

14 (2) The means of distributing information

15 about the products and services of the airline indus16 try are changing; during the past four years, airlines

17 have begun selling a larger percentage of their prod18 ucts and services directly to consumers, and Internet

19 businesses are now offering services that allow con20 sumers to compare prices for these products and

21 services.

22 (3) Airline policies with respect to travel agen23 cies, who historically have sold a majority of the air24 line industry’s products and services, threaten the

25 ability of consumers to gather the information nec-
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1 essary to evaluate market prices, routes, and serv2 ices.

3 (4) Further reductions in the number of travel

4 agents and greater marketplace reliance on direct

5 airline sales may result in a marketplace in which

6 consumers lack sufficient information and are there7 by forced to pay higher prices.

8 (b) 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’’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the

12 ‘‘Commission’’).

13 (c) DUTIES.—

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

15 study of—

16 (A) consumer access to information about

17 the products and services of the airline indus18 try;

19 (B) the effect on the marketplace of the

20 emergence of new means of distributing such

21 products and services;

22 (C) the effect on consumers of the declin23 ing financial condition of travel agents in the

24 United States; and
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1 (D) the impediments imposed by the air2 line industry on distributors of the industry’s

3 products and services, including travel agents

4 and Internet-based distributors.

5 (2) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the

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

7 Commission shall recommend to the President and

8 Congress policies necessary—

9 (A) to ensure full consumer access to com10 plete information concerning airline fares,

11 routes, and other services;

12 (B) to ensure that the means of distrib13 uting the products and services of the airline in14 dustry, and of disseminating information about

15 such products and services, is adequate to en16 sure that competitive information is available in

17 the marketplace;

18 (C) to ensure that distributors of the prod19 ucts and services of the airline industry have

20 adequate relief from illegal, anticompetitive

21 practices that occur in the marketplace; and

22 (D) to foster healthy competition in the

23 airline industry and the entry of new entrants.
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1 (d) SPECIFIC MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—In car2 rying out the study authorized under subsection (c)(1), the

3 Commission shall specifically address the following:

4 (1) CONSUMER ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—

5 With respect to consumer access to information re6 garding the services and products offered by the air7 line industry:

8 (A) The state of such access.

9 (B) The effect in the next 5 years of the

10 making of alliances in the airline industry.

11 (C) Whether and to what degree the trends

12 regarding such access will produce benefits to

13 consumers.

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

15 the means of distributing the products and services

16 of the airline industry:

17 (A) The state of such means of distribu18 tion.

19 (B) The roles played by travel agencies

20 and Internet-based providers of travel informa21 tion and services in distributing such products

22 and services.

23 (C) Whether the policies of the United

24 States promote the access of consumers to mul25 tiple means of distribution.
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1 (3) AIRLINE RESERVATION SYSTEMS.—With re2 spect to airline reservation systems:

3 (A) The rules, regulations, policies, and

4 practices of the industry governing such sys5 tems.

6 (B) How trends in such systems will affect

7 consumers, including—

8 (i) the effect on consumer access to

9 flight reservation information; and

10 (ii) the effect on consumers of the use

11 by the airline industry of penalties and

12 promotions to convince distributors to use

13 such systems, and the degree of consumer

14 awareness of such penalties and pro15 motions.

16 (4) LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS TO DISTRIBUTORS

17 SEEKING RELIEF FOR ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIONS.—

18 The policies of the United States with respect to the

19 legal impediments to distributors seeking relief for

20 anticompetitive actions, including—

21 (A) Federal preemption of civil actions

22 against airlines; and

23 (B) the role of the Department of Trans24 portation in enforcing rules against anti25 competitive practices.
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1 (e) MEMBERSHIP.—

2 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be

3 composed of 15 voting members and 11 nonvoting

4 members as follows:

5 (A) 5 voting members and 1 nonvoting

6 member appointed by the President.

7 (B) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

8 members appointed by the Speaker of the

9 House of Representatives.

10 (C) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

11 members appointed by the minority leader of

12 the House of Representatives.

13 (D) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting

14 members appointed by the majority leader of

15 the Senate.

16 (E) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting

17 members appointed by the minority leader of

18 the Senate

19 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Voting members ap20 pointed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be ap21 pointed from among individuals who are experts in

22 economics, service product distribution, or transpor23 tation, or any related discipline, and who can rep24 resent consumers, passengers, shippers, travel

25 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) CHAIRMAN.—The President, in consultation

12 with the Speaker of the House of Representatives

13 and the majority leader of the Senate, shall des14 ignate the Chairman of the Commission from among

15 its voting members.

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

18 Commission as the Chairman determines appropriate to

19 carry out the functions of the Commission.

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

21 the pay of such personnel as it considers appropriate.

22 (h) 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 (i) 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 (j) 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 (k) 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 (c)(2).

24 (l) 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 (k). 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 (m) 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.

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