I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2804 
To require the Secretary of Transportation to implement changes to improve 
air transportation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2017 
Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Transportation to implement 
changes to improve air transportation, and for other 
purposes. 
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 Consumer Pro-
tection Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERLINING. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a 
final rule requiring an air carrier to seek, in the event 
of a delay exceeding 3 hours, cancellation, or misconnec-
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tion as a result of circumstances or an event within an 
air carrier’s control, as determined by the Secretary of 
Transportation, alternative transportation for displaced 
passengers, including aboard another air carrier capable 
of transporting the passenger to his or her originally 
scheduled destination, and to accept, for a reasonable fee, 
the passengers of another air carrier who have been dis-
placed by circumstances or an event within that air car-
riers control, as determined by the Secretary of Transpor-
tation, or if the passenger has been involuntarily denied 
boarding due to a lack of available seats. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure of the House of Representatives a report con-
taining a review of the following: 
(1) The commonalities and differences of com-
puter network architecture used by air carriers oper-
ating under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations. 
(2) Analysis of operationally critical functions, 
including consideration of passenger-facing functions 
such as reservation and notification systems, aircraft 
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dispatch functions and how information regarding 
such functions and systems is transmitted to 
outstations, maintenance monitoring and planning 
systems, and crew scheduling systems. 
(3) The impact of consolidated systems and 
software that handle multiple critical functions. 
(4) The most common causes of airline com-
puter network disruptions. 
(5) Industry best practices to prevent, and miti-
gate the impacts of, network disruptions. 
SEC. 4. COMPUTER NETWORK RESILIENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any schedule change resulting 
from a computer network disruption, security breach, or 
other inoperability, may be considered an event within an 
air carrier’s control as determined by the Secretary of 
Transportation. 
(b) COMPUTER NETWORK RESILIENCY WORKING 
GROUP.—The Secretary of Transportation shall work 
closely with the airline industry computer network resil-
iency working group established under section 5 to im-
prove computer networks for air carriers. 
(c) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 year after the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
shall publish a final rule that requires an air carrier oper-
ating under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula-
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tions, to submit to the Administrator of the Federal Avia-
tion Administration a plan detailing, at a minimum— 
(1) the maintenance of computer network sys-
tems used to perform functions critical to the nor-
mal operation of the carrier; 
(2) the carrier’s plan for restoring full 
functionality of such systems in the event of a serv-
ice disruption; 
(3) the carrier’s backup systems; and 
(4) the level of service and amenities offered to 
passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled as 
a result of a computer network disruption and how 
the air carrier will comply with the plan require-
ments of section 6. 
(d) PLAN DETAILS.—Not later than 1 year after the 
establishment of the airline industry computer network re-
siliency working group under section 5, the contingency 
plan referred to in subsection (c) shall be submitted to 
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. 
Notwithstanding section 552 of title 5, United States Code 
(commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act), 
such plan may not disclose to the public any plan specifics. 
The air carrier shall make available a general outline of 
the plan to the public. 
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SEC. 5. AIRLINE INDUSTRY COMPUTER NETWORK RESIL-
IENCY WORKING GROUP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans-
portation shall establish the airline industry computer net-
work resiliency working group (referred to in this section 
as ‘‘the working group’’) to serve as subject matter experts 
to the Secretary to foster collaboration and facilitate im-
provements in the resilience of computer networks used 
by air carriers in carrying out functions critical to the 
maintenance of regularly scheduled air transportation 
service, and in the recovery of operations in the event of 
network disruptions. 
(b) OBJECTIVES.—Objectives of the working group 
shall include efforts— 
(1) to promote communication and coordination 
regarding computer network architecture across the 
airline industry; 
(2) to promote engagement between industry 
and government stakeholders regarding the develop-
ment of guidelines and best practices; 
(3) to review past disruptions and lessons 
learned; and 
(4) to serve as the liaison between industry and 
government representatives on research and develop-
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