Passenger rights initiative moves from Congress to states

The Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights (CAPBOR), an activist organization founded by a woman who was stuck on a grounded plane for nine hours, is shifting its focus from Congress to state legislatures, after a new law that took effect in New York State this month survived an initial legal challenge. At least six more states are now considering bills that would guarantee humane treatment for flyers whose aircraft face hours-long ground holds. They include Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Michigan and Washington. CAPBOR has developed a “model bill” for that purpose, based on the New York law – which would assess fines on airlines that fail to provide passengers stuck on aircraft for more than three hours with food, water, adequate ventilation and sanitary facilities.

The airlines’ trade group, the Air Transport Association, challenged the New York law in court and lost, although it is appealing that decision. CAPBOR initially lobbied the federal government for tough passenger rights legislation, but it got bogged down in Congress in the face of heavy counter-lobbying from the airlines. CAPBOR founder Kate Hanni is making the rounds of state legislatures to push her cause. Last week, she testified before a committee of the Washington State Senate.