Revised airline policies may make flying better
Four years ago, David Dao, a 69-year-old Kentucky doctor, was forcibly dragged from his seat on a United Airlines flight that was about to depart from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport because the airline wanted to give his seat to a transiting crew member. Dao ended up being carried out on a stretcher. The incident made headlines across the country, and people were outraged. Cramped seats may be expected by the flying public, but concussions and broken noses are not.
While the nation was distracted by the Washington riots and the pandemic, the skies got a little friendlier for the likes of Dao. On Jan. 13, the Department of Transportation amended its rules to ensure no other passenger has to experience the ordeal he did.
Once the new rules take effect, beginning April 21, a ticketed passenger who boards an airplane cannot be involuntarily bumped from an overbooked flight.
Additional consumerfriendly rules will also be enacted on that date, and all will apply to flights originating in the United States that can hold more than 30 passengers. The maximum required compensation paid to passengers who are involuntarily bumped from a flight will increase from $675 to $775 for delays of up to two hours (or 200% of the ticket price, if it is less), and from $1,350 to $1,550 for longer delays (or 400% of the ticket price, if it is less). Foreign carriers must abide by these rules as well.
There are also stricter requirements regarding notifying passengers about oversold flights. Previously, airlines often chose which incentive, such as mileage or travel vouchers, to communicate to volunteers willing to give up their seats. They now must include a cash offer. Specifying this is necessary, said Bill McGee, the aviation adviser for the advocacy arm of the nonprofit consumer organization Consumer Reports, because “statistically, most Americans fly less than once a year, even before COVID, so may not be aware of all these rules.”
The maximum liability for lost, pilfered, damaged or delayed baggage was also raised from $3,500 to $3,800.
The new rules were announced during the
Trump administration, a few days after Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigned in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots.
The practice of overbooking — when airlines sell more tickets to a flight than there are seats — stems from an estimation that some passengers will change their plans before the flight and not show up. If too many ticket holders do arrive at the gate, airlines offer incentives to those who voluntarily give up their seat, and in rarer cases bump passengers involuntarily.
McGee testified before Congress on this issue four years ago, representing the voice of the consumer.
The new rules are important, McGee said, because they shift the burden of an overbooked flight to the airline from the passenger.