Last week a federal court struck down New York’s law requiring that airlines provide food, working toilets, and other amenities to passengers on airplanes left for hours on a tarmac awaiting takeoff. The court found that this was a federal issue and that the various states could not enact dissimilar laws seeking to regulate the airlines.
In my humble opinion, this is the correct decision. Unfortunately, our federal legislators are in the pockets of the airlines and various other corporate owners, so the federal version of the passenger bill of rights is stalled in a hissy fit between the Senate Finance Committee and Commerce Committee over who should pay for the much-needed modernization of the FAA and air traffic control system.
Our president has threatened to veto the bill passed by the House. If the two Senate committees work out their differences, the Senate must pass its version of the bill, then the House and Senate joint conference must work out a compromise, and each must then pass the same version, which is sent to our president for signature. Or veto, as the case may be.
You may, if you wish, urge your senator to get the bill out of committee sooner rather than later in the hope that a joint compromise can be worked out and passed before the election. Good luck.
3 months ago