[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 700 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 700

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced protections 
                        for airline passengers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 1999

 Mr. Shuster introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced protections 
                        for airline passengers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. AIRLINE PASSENGER PROTECTION.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 417 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 41716. Air carrier passenger protection
    ``(a) Use of Single Flight Number.--No air carrier may use a single 
flight number to denote a flight that the air carrier knows will 
involve a change in aircraft between segments of the flight.
    ``(b) Delay, Cancellation, or Diversion.--
            ``(1) Explanation required.--An announcement by an air 
        carrier of (A) a delay or cancellation of a flight, or (B) a 
        diversion of a flight to an airport other than the airport at 
        which the flight is scheduled to land, shall include an 
        explanation of the reason or reasons for the delay, 
        cancellation, or diversion.
            ``(2) Prohibition on false or misleading explanations.--No 
        air carrier shall provide an explanation under paragraph (1) 
        that the air carrier knows or has reason to know is false or 
        misleading.
    ``(c) Excessive Departure and Arrival Delay.--
            ``(1) Liability imposed.--An air carrier shall be liable to 
        each passenger on an aircraft for an excessive departure or 
        arrival delay of the aircraft.
            ``(2) Amount of liability.--
                    ``(A) Delays of more than 2 but less than 3 
                hours.--If the excessive departure or arrival delay is 
                more than 2 but less than 3 hours, the amount of 
                liability under paragraph (1) shall be 200 percent of 
                the price paid by the passenger for transportation by 
                the air carrier.
                    ``(B) Delays of 3 hours or more.--If the excessive 
                departure or arrival delay is 3 hours or more, the 
                amount of liability under paragraph (1) shall be--
                            ``(i) the amount determined under 
                        subparagraph (A), plus
                            ``(ii) an additional 100 percent of the 
                        price paid by the passenger for such 
                        transportation multiplied by the number of 
                        hours (or portion thereof) that such period 
                        exceeds 3 hours.
            ``(3) Excessive departure or arrival delay.--In paragraph 
        (1), the term `excessive departure or arrival delay' means a 
        period of time in excess of 2 hours--
                    ``(A) in the case of departure delay, beginning 
                when the door of an aircraft is closed at an airport 
                and ending when the aircraft takes off from the airport 
                or when the door of the aircraft is open for deplaning 
                of passengers at the airport; and
                    ``(B) in the case of arrival delay, beginning upon 
                touchdown of an aircraft at an airport and ending when 
                the door of the aircraft is open for deplaning of 
                passengers at the airport.
            ``(4) Departure delays caused by air traffic control 
        directives.--Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a departure delay 
        in excess of 2 hours shall not be treated as an excessive 
        departure delay for purposes of paragraph (1) if the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration determines 
        that the departure delay was the result of an air traffic 
        control directive and that the carrier did not receive 
        notification that it would receive such directive prior to the 
        scheduled departure time of the flight.
    ``(d) Economic Cancellations.--
            ``(1) Nonsafety cancellations.--If, on the date a flight of 
        an air carrier is scheduled, the carrier cancels the flight for 
        reasons other than safety, the carrier shall provide to each 
        passenger that has purchased air transportation on the flight--
                    ``(A) air transportation in a timely manner to the 
                destination for which such passenger purchased the air 
                transportation; and
                    ``(B) a refund of the amount paid for the air 
                transportation.
            ``(2) Patterns of practice.--
                    ``(A) Notification of secretary.--If an air carrier 
                cancels a flight, the air carrier shall submit to the 
                Secretary of Transportation, in writing before the 30th 
                day following the date of cancellation of the flight, 
                the following information with respect to the flight:
                            ``(i) The flight number.
                            ``(ii) The date and scheduled time of 
                        departure of the flight.
                            ``(iii) The percentage of seats on the 
                        flight that would have been filled, as of the 
                        date of cancellation, if the flight was not 
                        canceled.
                    ``(B) Periodic reviews.--The Secretary shall 
                periodically review information submitted under 
                subparagraph (A) by each air carrier to determine if 
                there is a pattern of the air carrier canceling a 
                specific flight or canceling flights that are 
                undersold.
                    ``(C) Investigation.--If the Secretary determines 
                under subparagraph (B) that there is a pattern of an 
                air carrier canceling a specific flight or canceling 
                flights that are undersold, the Secretary shall conduct 
                an investigation to determine whether the air carrier 
                is canceling the flight or flights for reasons other 
                than safety.
                    ``(D) Restitution.--If, as a result of an 
                investigation under subparagraph (C), the Secretary 
                determines that a flight is canceled by an air carrier 
                for reasons other than safety, the carrier shall 
                provide a refund to each passenger who purchased air 
                transportation for that flight equal to the amount they 
                paid for that air transportation even if the carrier 
                provided the air transportation to those passengers.
                    ``(E) Undersold defined.--In this section, a flight 
                of an air carrier is undersold as of a certain date if 
                70 percent or more of the seats on the flight are not 
                purchased on or before such date.
            ``(3) Limitation on cancellations for reasons other than 
        safety.--In this subsection, a flight shall not be treated as 
        being canceled for reasons other than safety if the flight is 
        canceled because of, among other things, an insufficient number 
        of crew, weather, or mechanical problems that prevent the safe 
        operation of the flight or prevent the flight from operating in 
        accordance with regulations of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
    ``(e) Lost Baggage.--If an air carrier finds baggage or property 
that has on it the name of an individual, the carrier shall make a good 
faith effort to find the individual and return the baggage or property 
to the individual.
    ``(f) Limitation on Security Screenings.--No air carrier or airport 
may conduct or have conducted a security procedure at an airport in a 
manner that results in a child under 2 years of age being separated 
from the child's parent or guardian without the consent of the parent 
or guardian.
    ``(g) Code Sharing.--No air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket 
agent may sell air transportation in the United States for a flight 
that bears a designator code of a carrier other than the carrier that 
will provide the air transportation unless the air carrier, foreign air 
carrier, or ticket agent selling the air transportation first informs 
the person purchasing the air transportation that the carrier providing 
the air transportation will be a carrier other than the carrier whose 
designator code is used to identify the flight.
    ``(h) Air Carrier Pricing Policies.--An air carrier may not--
            ``(1) prohibit a person (including a governmental entity) 
        that purchases air transportation from only using a portion of 
        the air transportation purchased (including using the air 
        transportation purchased only for 1-way travel instead of 
        round-trip travel); and
            ``(2) assess an additional fee on or charge to--
                    ``(A) such a person; or
                    ``(B) any ticket agent that sold the air 
                transportation to such person.
    ``(i) Frequent Flyer Awards.--Upon request of any person (including 
a governmental entity), an air carrier shall disclose the number or 
percentage of seats that the carrier intends to make available on a 
specific date for use by a person redeeming an award under a frequent 
flyer program of the carrier on any route in air transportation 
provided by the carrier.
    ``(j) Regulations.--The Secretary may issue regulations to carry 
out this section.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for such title is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 41715 the 
following:

``41716. Air carrier passenger protection.''.

SEC. 3. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    Section 46301(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``Maximum penalty for 
        violations relating to air service termination notices.--'' 
        before ``Notwithstanding'';
            (2) by aligning paragraph (6) with paragraph (5) of such 
        section; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) Maximum penalty for violations relating to single 
        flight number requirement.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
        maximum civil penalty for an air carrier violating section 
        41716(a) with respect to a flight of an air carrier shall be an 
        amount determined by multiplying the maximum amount of a civil 
        penalty under paragraph (1) by the number of passengers on the 
        flight.
            ``(8) Maximum penalty for violations relating to 
        explanations of delays, cancellations, and diversions.--
        Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the maximum civil penalty for an 
        air carrier violating section 41716(b) with respect to a flight 
        of an air carrier shall be an amount determined by multiplying 
        the maximum amount of a civil penalty under paragraph (1) by 
        the number of passengers who paid for transportation on the 
        flight.''.

SEC. 4. UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a study 
to determine if air carriers are providing, during changes of planes, a 
level of supervision of unaccompanied children under 12 years of age 
that is sufficient to ensure the safety of such children.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report containing 
the results of the study conducted under this section.
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