[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 383 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 282
106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 383

                          [Report No. 106-162]

  To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair treatment for 
                          airline passengers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 1999

  Mr. Wyden  (for himself, Mr. McCain, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Bryan, and Mr. 
   Feingold) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

                           September 22, 1999

Reported by Mr. Lott (for Mr. McCain), with an amendment in the nature 
                            of a substitute
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair treatment for 
                          airline passengers.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Airline Passenger Fairness 
Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) The number of airline passengers on United 
        States carriers is expected to grow from about 600 million per 
        year today to about 1 billion by the year 2008.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Since 1978 the number of certified large air 
        carriers has decreased from 30 to 10. In 1998, 6 of the United 
        States' largest air carriers sought to enter into arrangements 
        that would result in 3 large networks comprising approximately 
        70 percent of the domestic market.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Only </DELETED>\<DELETED>2/3</DELETED>\ 
        <DELETED>of all communities in the United States that had 
        scheduled air service in 1978 still have it today, and 
        </DELETED>\<DELETED>1/2</DELETED>\ <DELETED>of those remaining 
        are served by smaller airlines feeding hub airports.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) The Department of Transportation's Domestic 
        Airline Fares Consumer Report for the 3rd Quarter of 1997 
        listed 75 major city pairs where fares increased by 30 percent 
        or more year-over-year, while total traffic in these city pairs 
        decreased by 863,500 passengers, or more than 20 
        percent.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) A 1998 Department of Transportation study 
        found that large United States air carriers charge twice as 
        much at their large hub airports where there is no low fare 
        competition as they charge at a hub airport where a low fare 
        competitor is present. The General Accounting Office found that 
        fares range from 12 percent to 71 percent higher at hubs 
        dominated by one carrier or a consortium.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) Complaints filed with the Department of 
        Transportation about airline travel have increased by more than 
        25 percent over the previous year, and complaints against large 
        United States air carriers have increased from 6,394 in 1997 to 
        7,994 in 1998.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) The 1997 National Civil Aviation Review 
        Commission reported that recent data indicate the problem of 
        delay in flights is getting worse, and that the number of daily 
        aircraft delays of 15 minutes or longer was nearly 20 percent 
        higher in 1996 than in 1995.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) The l997 National Civil Aviation Review 
        Commission forecast that United States domestic and 
        international passenger enplanements are expected to increase 
        52 percent between 1996 and 2006, and the Federal Aviation 
        Administration forecasts annual growth in revenue passenger 
        miles will average 4.2 percent.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) A l998 Department of Transportation study 
        found that the large United States air carriers charge about 60 
        percent more to passengers traveling to or from small 
        communities than they charge to passengers traveling between 
        large communities.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (10) The Congress has directed the Secretary of 
        Transportation to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices in 
        the airline industry.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. FAIR PRACTICES FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) by striking ``On the initiative'' and 
        inserting ``(a) Duty of the Secretary.--On the initiative''; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) by adding at the end thereof the 
        following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Specific Practices.--For purposes of subsection (a), 
the terms `unfair or deceptive practice' and `unfair method of 
competition' include, in the case of a certificated air carrier, an air 
carrier's failure--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) to inform a ticketed passenger, upon 
        request, whether the flight on which the passenger is ticketed 
        is oversold;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) to permit a passenger holding a confirmed 
        reserved space on a flight to use portions of that passenger's 
        ticket for travel, rather than the entire ticket, regardless of 
        the reason any other portion of the ticket is not 
        used;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) to deliver a passenger's checked baggage 
        within 24 hours after arrival of the flight on which the 
        passenger travelled and on which the passenger checked the 
        baggage, except for reasonable delays in delivery of such 
        baggage;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) to provide a consumer full access to all 
        fares for that air carrier, regardless of the technology the 
        consumer uses to access the fares if such information is 
        requested by that consumer;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(5) to provide notice to each passenger holding 
        a confirmed reserved space on a flight with reasonable prior 
        notice when a scheduled flight will be delayed for any reason 
        (other than reasons of national security);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(6) to inform passengers accurately and 
        truthfully of the reason for the delay, cancellation, or 
        diversion of a flight;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(7) to refund the full purchase price of an 
        unused ticket if the passenger requests a refund within 48 
        hours after the ticket it purchased;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(8) to disclose to consumers information that 
        would enable them to make informed decisions about the 
        comparative value of frequent flyer programs among airlines, 
        including--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) the number of seats redeemable on 
                each flight; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) the percentage of successful and 
                failed redemptions on each airline and on each 
                flight.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Report.--The Secretary shall include information 
about violations of subsection (a) by certificated air carriers in the 
Department of Transportation's monthly Air Travel Consumer 
Report.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) Confirmed reserved space.--The term `confirmed 
reserved space' shall mean a space on a specific date and on a specific 
flight and class of service of a carrier which has been requested by a 
passenger and which the carrier or its agent has verified, by 
appropriate notation on the ticket or in any other manner provided by 
the carrier, as being reserved for the accommodation of the 
passenger.''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Airline Customer Service Commitment 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AIRLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPORTS.

    (a) Secretary To Report Plans Received.--Each air carrier that 
provides scheduled passenger air transportation and that is a member of 
the Air Transport Association, all of which have entered into the 
voluntary customer service commitments established by the Association 
on June 17, 1999, (hereinafter referred to as the ``Airline Customer 
Service Commitment''), shall provide a copy of its individual customer 
service plan to the Secretary of Transportation by September 15, 1999. 
The Secretary, upon receipt of the individual plans, shall report to 
the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and to 
the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure the receipt of each such plan and transmit a copy of 
each plan.
    (b) Implementation.--The Inspector General of the Department of 
Transportation shall monitor the implementation of any plan submitted 
to the Secretary under subsection (a) and evaluate the extent to which 
each such carrier has met its commitments under its plan. Each such 
carrier shall provide such information to the Inspector General as may 
be necessary for the Inspector General to prepare the report required 
by subsection (c).
    (c) Reports to the Congress.--
            (1) Interim report.--The Inspector General shall submit a 
        report of the Inspector General's findings under subsection (a) 
        to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on 
        Transportation and Infrastructure by June 15, 2000, that 
        includes a status report on completion, publication, and 
        implementation of the Airline Customer Service Commitment and 
        the individual airline plans to carry it out.
            (2) Final report; recommendations.--
                    (A) In general.--The Inspector General shall submit 
                a final report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
                Science, and Transportation and the House of 
                Representatives Committee on Transportation and 
                Infrastructure by December 31, 2000, on the 
                effectiveness of the Airline Customer Service 
                Commitment and the individual airline plans to carry it 
                out. The report may include any recommendation the 
                Inspector General finds appropriate to improve consumer 
                protections afforded to commercial air passengers.
                    (B) Specific content.--In the final report under 
                subparagraph (A), the Inspector General shall--
                            (i) evaluate each carrier's plan for 
                        whether it is consistent with the voluntary 
                        commitments established by the Air Transport 
                        Association in the Airline Customer Service 
                        Commitment;
                            (ii) evaluate each carrier as to the extent 
                        to which, and the manner in which, it has 
                        performed in carrying out its plan;
                            (iii) identify, by air carrier, how it has 
                        implemented each commitment covered by its 
                        plan; and
                            (iv) provide an analysis, by air carrier, 
                        of the methods of meeting each commitment, and 
                        in such analysis provide information that 
                        allows consumers to make decisions on the 
                        quality of air transportation provided by such 
                        carriers.

SEC. 3. INCREASED FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOST BAGGAGE.

    The Secretary of Transportation shall initiate a rule making within 
30 days after the date of enactment of this Act to increase the 
domestic baggage liability limit in part 254 of title 14, Code of 
Federal Regulations.

SEC. 4. INCREASED PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF AVIATION CONSUMER PROTECTION 
              LAWS.

    Section 46301(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(7) Consumer protection.--For a violation of section 
        41310, 41712, any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, or 
        any other rule or regulation promulgated by the Secretary of 
        Transportation that is intended to afford protection to 
        commercial air transportation consumers, the maximum civil 
        penalty prescribed by subsection (a) may not exceed $2,500 for 
        each violation.''.

SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL INVESTIGATION.

    The Comptroller General of the United States shall study the 
potential effects on aviation consumers, including the impact on fares 
and service to small communities, of a requirement that air carriers 
permit a ticketed passenger to use any portion of a multiple-stop or 
round-trip air fare for transportation independent of any other portion 
without penalty. The Comptroller General shall submit a report, based 
on the study, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure by June 15, 2000.
                                     





                                                       Calendar No. 282

106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 383

                          [Report No. 106-162]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To establish a national policy of basic consumer fair treatment for 
                          airline passengers.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 22, 1999

        Reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute