Hawaii Flight Delays Could Stop Cold Following This

Airline customers, those flying to Hawaii and elsewhere in the US, have long been under-protected in terms of various flight problems. The most incessant issues have been extraordinary Hawaii flight delays first, followed by Hawaii flight cancellations second.

[People are being] ripped off; the goal is to level the playing field for our consumers. — Senator Ed Markey.

But following along similar lines to the airline passenger protection law in the UK, which for years, has provided substantive flight delay, cancellation, and denied boarding assistance, the US government is looking to put some teeth into passenger protection for the first time. Enters the upcoming Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights.

Which Hawaii flight problems will the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights address?

The frustrations we’ve been facing on Hawaii flights are in this order. They may all be addressed based on bills currently being considered.

1. Hawaii flight delays. There have been so many that it is literally a bad joke as to whether you might arrive on time. It is hard to rely on Hawaii flights the way we used to. Now, even when we travel just 100 miles interisland, we don’t have confidence that we’ll both come and go at the time scheduled. Sadly, that is usually the case. Morning flights are better, and afternoon/evening flights are much worse in our experience. That problem is ongoing.

2. Hawaii flight cancellations. There have been far too many of these as well, and the reasons have been so varied that is hard to put our fingers on a single cause. That is, leaving aside late December’s Southwest meltdown, which is the only clear causal element.

3. Oversold flights. We haven’t experienced these in quite some time, and we’d love to hear if any of you have. There was a time when it was pretty common. In fact, we’ve even been upgraded to first class when economy turned out to be oversold, and we had no prior seat assignments.

4. Eggregious airline fees. The legislation seeks to set and enforce limits on baggage and seat assignment fees as well as charges for flight changes.

$1,350 is the proposed minimum compensation for bumping.

Legislation being proposed would currently set that as the minimum compensation for involuntary bumping from a flight that’s oversold for example.

The plan is to force airlines to compensate airlines in cash rather than in travel vouchers for offenses. When editors Rob and Jeff had a flight out of London delayed by 4 hours, they each received $600 as a credit card refund.

Until now, the USDOT laws have primarily favored the airlines rather than consumers. So denied boarding would be compensated, albeit poorly, and only based on meeting minimum nonsensical thresholds for the length of time delayed, for example.

The “Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights and the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act.”

The just-introduced bill would set forth a variety of protections. When it is all said and done, some will remain, and others will undoubtedly go by the wayside.

• Prohibit airlines from reducing seat size until FAA sets a minimum.
• Crackdown on airlines claiming weather is the case of delays and cancellations in cases where that isn’t true.
• Require free drinking water.
• Mandate that restrooms accommodate disabled passengers.
• Force airlines to provide passengers delayed 1-4 hours ticket refunds and alternate transportation.

One of the bill’s authors, Ed Markey said, “Our nation’s largest airlines can’t even guarantee consumers that their flights won’t be delayed or canceled, that their luggage won’t be lost, or that they won’t get stranded at the gate because of overbooking. We must empower regulators and uphold passengers’ rights so they are treated with dignity before, during, and after their flight.”