Money

DOT to Save Us From Peanuts: The Passenger Bill of Rights

By Barbara Hernandez

Updated on: June 8, 2010 / 9:17 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

The U.S. Department of Transportation revealed its proposed "passenger bill of rights" recently, which mandates penalty-free 24-hour cancellations for fliers, higher payouts for bumped flights and peanut-free flights. Strangely, the airlines have been quiet on this 82-page document, including the Air Transport Association which said it would evaluate the proposal. Not that resistance will do much good, because a three-hour wait limit for jetliners on the tarmac -- which met with howls of protest when it was enacted last month -- seemed to lead to improved on-time performance in April.

With such a success under the department's belt, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood can feel confident about the new proposal, which is now in the midst of a 60-day comment period. The success has also made the DOT propose enforcing the new rules on international flights. LaHood expects the new rules will be in effect by fall.

But it's the ban on peanuts, something that's been on the airline industry radar since the 1990s, that has inexplicably resurfaced. According to the Kansas City Star:

It's been estimated that less than 1 percent of the U.S. population suffers from a peanut or tree nut allergy. About 100 people die yearly from peanut allergies. It's a much higher rate than people who suffer from other food allergies, said Nancy Y. Olson, an allergy specialist at the University of Kansas Hospital.
"A lot of other food allergies land you in the emergency room, but that's a pretty high mortality rate," Olson said.

The DOT will offer peanut-free rows or ban peanuts altogether, depending on feedback for the proposed rules and their own research. The other rules:

Increasing the compensation limits to $650 for being denied boarding, and to $1,300 for delays (depending on how many hours passengers lost)
Requiring airlines to prominently disclose their baggage fees and reimburse passengers when bags aren't delivered on time
Allowing passengers to cancel their reservations within 24 hours without penalty after booking the flight
Requiring airlines to develop contingency plans for long tarmac delays at smaller airports
Banning the practice of post-purchase price increases
Restriction or banning of peanuts to protect passengers with peanut allergies

While the Air Transport Association has tried to stop more government intervention, suggesting that such rules will cost airlines $26 million over the next decade, its complaints have fallen on deaf ears. The perceived problem with increased regulation is that new rules will cause more chaos in the airline industry, but so far they haven't. I'm sure the DOT will also be studying the numbers of on-time flights in May to see just how well the experiment is going.

Airlines can fight this legislation as much as they want, but in this economy with so many passengers unhappy with the rising fees and lack of amenities, they're unlikely to gain much sympathy (some of the new legislation actually enforces a fee for previously free gatechecks and generates more money for airlines.)

Airlines should cooperate with the new proposal, use it to an airline's advantage when they can and quickly move on. Their only other option is to accept federal fines and penalties.

Photo: Al Jazeera English
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