DOT seeks comments on new consumer protection rules

The Transportation Department has come out with a bunch of proposals for improved protection of airline passengers – and it wants to know what you think of them. DOT’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking starts with a period for public comment before the agency moves ahead with the new regulations. They include:

*A requirement that airlines not only set down specific policies for taking care of passengers in the event of a lengthy tarmac delay, but also that they incorporate those terms into their contract of carriage – making them legally enforceable. Thus passengers could sue or DOT could penalize an airline if it disregards its own stated policy.

*A rule that airlines would have to let consumers know – without being asked – how often a specific flight arrived more than 30 minutes late, and how often it was cancelled.

*A plan to require major U.S. and foreign airlines to report monthly on-time performance for international flights to and from the U.S. Currently, DOT only collects this data for domestic flights.

Other proposed rules would force the airlines to disclose to consumers how many complaints they receive on customer service issues; to conduct internal audits of their customer service performance; to give flyers better information on how to file a complaint; and to respond to such complaints within 30 days.

The trade newspaper Travel Weekly notes that consumers can see all the proposed rules by going to www.regulations.gov; at that site, click on “search for documents” – then select Department of Transportation from the drop-down menu and enter the document ID “DOT-OST-2007-0022”. The same government web site is the place to file your comments: On the main page, under “Search documents” (as opposed to “search for documents”), select the Transportation Department from the drop-down menu and it will take you to the page where you can file your opinions.