I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 752
To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair treatment for airline
passengers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 11, 1999
Mr. TOWNS 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Airline Passenger
Fairness Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The number of airline passengers on United
States carriers is expected to grow from about 600
million per year today to about 1 billion by the year
2008.
(2) Since 1978 the number of certified large air
carriers has decreased from 30 to 10. In 1998, 6 of
the United States’ largest air carriers sought to
enter into arrangements that would result in 3 large
networks comprising approximately 70 percent of
the domestic market.
(3) Only 2⁄3 of all communities in the United
States that had scheduled air service in 1978 still
have it today, and 1⁄2 of those remaining are served
by smaller airlines feeding hub airports.
(4) The Department of Transportation’s Do-
mestic Airline Fares Consumer Report for the 3rd
Quarter of 1997 listed 75 major city pairs where
fares increased by 30 percent or more year-over-
year, while total traffic in these city pairs decreased
by 863,500 passengers, or more than 20 percent.
(5) A 1998 Department of Transportation
study found that large United States air carriers
charge twice as much at their large hub airports
where there is no low fare competition as they
charge at a hub airport where a low fare competitor
is present. The General Accounting Office found
that fares range from 12 percent to 71 percent high-
er at hubs dominated by one carrier or a consor-
tium.
(6) Complaints filed with the Department of
Transportation about airline travel have increased
by more than 25 percent over the previous year, and
complaints against large United States air carriers
have increased from 6,394 in 1997 to 7,994 in
1998.
(7) The 1997 National Civil Aviation Review
Commission reported that recent data indicate the
problem of delay in flights is getting worse, and that
the number of daily aircraft delays of 15 minutes or
longer was nearly 20 percent higher in 1996 than in
1995.
(8) The 1997 National Civil Aviation Review
Commission forecast that United States domestic
and international passenger enplanements are ex-
pected to increase 52 percent between 1996 and
2006, and the Federal Aviation Administration fore-
casts annual growth in revenue passenger miles will
average 4.2 percent.
(9) A 1998 Department of Transportation
study found that the large United States air carriers
charge about 60 percent more to passengers travel-
ing to or from small communities than they charge
to passengers traveling between large communities.
(10) The Congress has directed the Secretary of
Transportation to prohibit unfair and deceptive
practices in the airline industry.
SEC. 3. FAIR PRACTICES FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS.
Section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘On the initiative’’ and inserting
‘‘(a) DUTY OF THE SECRETARY.—On the initiative’’;
and
(2) by adding at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PRACTICES.—For purposes of sub-
section (a), the terms ‘unfair or deceptive practice’ and
‘unfair method of competition’ include, in the case of a
certificated air carrier, an air carrier’s failure—
‘‘(1) to inform a ticketed passenger, upon re-
quest, whether the flight on which the passenger is
ticketed is oversold;
‘‘(2) to permit a passenger holding a confirmed
reserved space on a flight to use portions of that
passenger’s ticket for travel, rather than the entire
ticket, regardless of the reason any other portion of
the ticket is not used;
‘‘(3) to deliver a passenger’s checked baggage
within 24 hours after arrival of the flight on which
the passenger travelled and on which the passenger
checked the baggage, except for reasonable delays in
delivery of such baggage;
‘‘(4) to provide a consumer full access to all
fares for that air carrier, regardless of the tech-
nology the consumer uses to access the fares if such
information is requested by that consumer;
‘‘(5) to provide notice to each passenger holding
a confirmed reserved space on a flight with reason-
able prior notice when a scheduled flight will be de-
layed for any reason (other than reasons of national
security);
‘‘(6) to inform passengers accurately and truth-
fully of the reason for the delay, cancellation, or di-
version of a flight;
‘‘(7) to refund the full purchase price of an un-
used ticket if the passenger requests a refund within
48 hours after the ticket is purchased;
‘‘(8) to disclose to consumers information that
would enable them to make informed decisions about
the comparative value of frequent flyer programs
among airlines, including—
‘‘(A) the number of seats redeemable on
each flight; and
‘‘(B) the percentage of successful and
failed redemptions on each airline and on each
flight.
‘‘(c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall include informa-
tion about violations of subsection (a) by certificated air
carriers in the Department of Transportation’s monthly
Air Travel Consumer Report.
‘‘(d) CONFIRMED RESERVED SPACE.—The term ‘con-
firmed reserved space’ shall mean a space on a specific
date and on a specific flight and class of service of a car-
rier which has been requested by a passenger and which
the carrier or its agent has verified, by appropriate nota-
tion on the ticket or in any other manner provided by the
carrier, as being reserved for the accommodation of the
passenger.’’.
Æ