Senator Boxer to Introduce Passenger's Bill of Rights

Press Release of Senator Boxer
Boxer to Introduce Passenger's Bill of Rights

Legislation would help ensure air travelers are not unnecessarily held on planes

Thursday, February 15, 2007


Washington, D.C. - Following incidents at JFK and Austin airports where passengers were forced to remain on planes for as long as 11 hours, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today announced that she is planning to introduce a "Passengers' Bill of Rights" in the Senate to ensure that air travelers are not unnecessarily held on planes or deprived access to basic food, water, and hygiene.

Boxer said, "I've been stuck on the tarmac many times in my travel back and forth to California. Sometimes with the weather and traffic, it's unavoidable. But to keep passengers - which usually include infants and the elderly - on a plane for eleven hours in the worst of conditions is absurd. If a plane is stuck on the tarmac or at the gate for hours, a passenger should have the right to deplane. No one should be held hostage on an aircraft when clearly they can find a way to get people off safely."

Boxer's legislation would require air carriers to ensure passengers access to necessary services such as food, water, and adequate restroom facilities. The legislation would also give passengers the right to safely deplane if the aircraft has remained on the ground for more than three hours past its scheduled departure time.



http://www.boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/record.cfm?id=269375

if it meant faking a heart attack, or even being arrested, they would HAVE to get me off the plane.

My knees are mashed into the back of the seat in front of me on most flights. Ugh.
Can't always get an exit row. Who was the accountant who told em to squish in an extra row? Grrr.

to tackle, but I think something should be done.

Every single time I've read a story about passengers being stuck sitting on an airplane with the toilets backing up, no more water or food, etc., they've almost all inferred they wanted to kill themselves because they were so miserable.

Being forced to sit on a plane for 11 hours?

That's outrageous.

Funny how they can act promptly when it's about muscle and police.

It's time to re-regulate the airline industry, one of the biggest hogs at the trough of "corporate welfare." The standards for airplane seating should be at least as important as the standards for office chairs and wheel chairs.