Consumer Rule II
Summary of Proposals
1. Tarmac Delay Contingency Plans
A. Expand the pool of carriers that are required to adopt and adhere to tarmac delay contingency plans to include foreign air carriers operating to and from U.S. with at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats.
B. Expand the airports at which airlines must adhere to the contingency plan’s terms to include small hub and non-hub airports, including diversion airports.
C. Require notification regarding the status of the tarmac delay (i.e., notify passengers every 30 minutes of reasons for tarmac delay).
D. Require coordination of plan with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at any U.S. airport that is regularly used for that carrier’s international flights, including diversion airports.
2. Tarmac Delay Data
A. Require the 18 largest U.S. carriers (i.e., reporting carriers) that are already required to provide tarmac delay data for their domestic scheduled flights to provide such data for their public charter service and international flights.
B. Expand the pool of carriers that must file information with the Department regarding tarmac delays from just the 18 largest U.S. carriers to U.S. carriers and foreign carriers that operate any aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats.
3. Customer Service Plans
A. Expand the pool of carriers that are required to adopt, follow and audit customer service plans to include foreign air carriers operating to and from U.S. with at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats. Foreign carriers are not currently covered by the rule.
B. Establish standards for the subjects carriers must cover in customer service plans (e.g., allowing reservations to be held at the quoted fare without payment, or cancelled without penalty, for at least twenty-four hours after the reservation is made).
4. Contracts of Carriage
A. Require carriers (U.S. and foreign) to include their contingency plans and customer service plans in their contracts of carriage.
B. Require foreign carriers to post contracts of carriage on their websites which is already required of U.S. carriers.
5. Response to Consumer Problems
A. Expand the pool of carriers that must respond to consumer problems to include foreign air carriers operating to and from the U.S. with at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats (i.e., monitor the effects of irregular flights on consumers; inform consumers how to file a complaint with the carrier, and provide substantives responses to consumer complaints within 60 days). Foreign carriers are not now covered.
6. Oversales
A. Increase the minimum denied boarding compensation (DBC) limits to $650/$1,300 to account for actual CPI increase since 1978. (The last increase about 2 years ago only doubled the 1978 limits of $200/$400 to $400/$800.)
B. Implement an automatic inflation adjuster for minimum DBC limits every 2 years.
C. Clarify that DBC must be offered to “zero fare ticket” holders (e.g., frequent flyer award tickets) who are involuntarily bumped (fare paid by passengers with zero fare ticket for calculating DBC is the lowest cash, check, or credit card payment charged for a comparable class of ticket on the same flight).
D. Require that a carrier verbally offer cash/check DBC if the carrier verbally offers a travel voucher as DBC to passengers who are involuntarily bumped.
E. Require that a carrier inform passengers solicited to volunteer for denied boarding about its principal boarding priority rules applicable to the specific flight and all material restrictions on the use of transportation vouchers in lieu of cash.
7. Full Fare Advertising
A. Enforce the full fare advertising rule as written (i.e., ads which state a price must state the full price to be paid). Carriers currently may exclude government taxes/fees imposed on a per-passenger basis.
B. Clarify the rule’s applicability to ticket agents.
C. Prohibit carriers and ticket agents from advertising fares that are not the full fare and impose stringent notice requirements in connection with the advertisement of “each-way” fares available for purchase only on a roundtrip basis.
D. Prohibit opt-out provisions in ads for air transportation.
8. Baggage and Other Fees and Related Code-Share Issues
A. Require U.S. and foreign air carriers that maintain a website accessible to the general public to prominently disclose on the homepage of such website any increase in the fee for checked or carry-on baggage or any change in the free baggage allowance for checked or carry-on bags.
B. Require U.S. and foreign air carriers that issue e-ticket confirmations to passengers to include information regarding their free baggage allowance and/or the applicable fee for a carry-on bag and the first and second checked bag on the e-ticket confirmation.
C. Require U.S. and foreign air carriers that have a website accessible to the general public to disclose all optional services that have fees to consumers through a prominent link on their homepage that leads directly to a listing of those fees.
D. Request comment on requiring carriers to provide up-to-date information on all ancillary fees to global distribution systems to make sure the information is available to both Internet and “brick and mortar” travel agenties.
9. Post-Purchase Price Increases
A. Ban the practice of post-purchase price increases.
10. Flight Status Changes
A. Require reporting carriers to promptly notify passengers in the boarding gate area that is open for that flight of changes to their domestic scheduled flights as a result of delays or cancellations (notification method may be by a verbal announcement, display board, etc).
B. Require reporting carriers to promptly update all domestic scheduled flight information under their control at airports regarding changes to the status of particular flights as a result of delays or cancellations.
C. Require reporting carriers to promptly update flight status details available on their websites and through their telephone reservation systems.
D. Require a ticket or gate agent of reporting carriers to provide, upon request, up-to-date information on changes to a carrier’s scheduled flights as a result of delays or cancellations.
11. Choice-of-Forum Provisions
A. Prohibit U.S. and foreign air carriers from limiting a passenger’s forum to a particular inconvenient venue. (Specifically permit consumers to file suit wherever a carrier does business, which generally includes where the consumer lives/bought the ticket.)
12. Peanut Allergies
A. Solicit comment on three options to providing greater access to air travel for persons with peanut allergies:
1. Banning the serving of peanuts and all peanut products by both U.S. and foreign carriers on flights covered by DOT’s disability rule;
2. Banning the serving of peanuts and all peanut products on all such flights where a passenger with a peanut allergy is on board and has requested a peanut-free flight in advance;
3. Requiring a peanut-free buffer zone in the immediate area of a passenger with a medically-documented severe allergy to peanuts if passenger has requested a peanut-free flight in advance.
B. Solicit comment on whether it is preferable to maintain the current practice of allowing carriers to serve peanuts on aircraft without any restriction.
13. Effective Date
A. Solicit comment on a final rule that we adopt taking effect 180 days after its publication in the Federal Register.
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