Advocacy Group Gives Airlines An 'F' For Strandings
Give 'em an "F" -- for failing to
deliver even basic services to stranded passengers. That's the
message Kate Hanni, founder of the consumer advocacy group
Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, had for several
US airlines Wednesday... but the Air Transport Association,
lobbying group for the nation's major carriers, said those
statements are unfair.
In a news conference in Washington, DC, CAPBOR bestowed its 2007
"report card" for airlines, regarding their overall treatment of
stranded passengers. ExpressJet, Continental, Delta, and US Airways
all received failing grades, according to news reports.
"They don't have to give you water, food, anything. They don't
have to let you off the plane at all. That's less rights than a
prisoner of war in the Geneva Convention," said Hanni. "Incredibly,
prisoners of war have more rights than passengers on a commercial
airliner."
Only two airlines, AirTran and Southwest, received B's on the
coalition's report card, according to WRC-TV in Washington, DC.
Northwest Airlines was acknowledged for having relatively few
strandings over four hours in 2007, with three; Southwest had nine,
but took steps to alleviate passenger grief.
Hanni also took issue with the Department of Transportation's
practice of not counting runway waits that ended in flight
cancellations, or diversions to other airports, in its own figures
for passenger strandings. That meant the notorious Valentines Day
2007 strandings of 11 JetBlue flights weren't counted toward
official figures.
DOT also does not include strandings of international flights in
its domestic airline tallies. CAPBOR seeks to change that, Hanni
said.
The ATA -- which has long opposed the kind of legislation called
for by CAPBOR, that would penalize airlines at the federal level
for passenger strandings -- said Hanni has made unsubstantiated
claims, that aren't helping the situation.
"The airline industry is well aware of the serious, but complex
problem of extended flight delays," an ATA statement read,
according to Dow Jones Newswires. "More, of course, needs to be
done to resolve the core issue of delays that result from our
increasingly antiquated air traffic management system."
"Steps have been taken at the individual carrier level as well
as in concert with other stakeholders in the airport and government
communities to address these challenges," the association
added.
The real solution to such problems, the lobbying group
maintains, will come with the total refurbishment of what ATA
considers an antiquated air traffic control system... not from more
legislation, or well-publicized 'report cards.'
Hanni -- who was stuck with her family onboard a diverted
American Airlines jet for nine hours, returning home from a
Christmas 2006 trip -- responds airlines must know they will be
held accountable for their actions... and that even if
circumstances are beyond their control, airlines must still provide
basic needs for their customers.