[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 332 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 332

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve consumers' access to 
 airline industry information, to promote competition in the aviation 
 industry, to protect airline passenger rights, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2001

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself and Ms. Slaughter) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve consumers' access to 
 airline industry information, to promote competition in the aviation 
 industry, to protect airline passenger rights, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Aviation Consumer Right To Know Act 
of 2001''.

SEC. 2. AIR CARRIER 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. 41722. Air carrier passenger protection
    ``(a) Access to Airfare Information.--Upon request of any person 
(including a governmental entity), an air carrier shall--
            ``(1) provide the person full access to all fares for air 
        transportation provided by the air carrier, regardless of the 
        technology the person uses to access the fares; and
            ``(2) permit the person to purchase air transportation 
        provided by the air carrier at any published fare.
    ``(b) Delay, Cancellation, or Diversion.--
            ``(1) Explanation required.--An announcement by an air 
        carrier of (A) a delay or cancellation of a flight, (B) a 
        diversion of a flight to an airport other than the airport at 
        which the flight is scheduled to land, or (C) a delay in 
        deplaning following the touchdown of an aircraft at an airport 
        shall include an explanation of the reason or reasons for the 
        delay, cancellation, or diversion and, in the case of a delay, 
        the expected length of the delay.
            ``(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) 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.
    ``(d) 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.
    ``(e) Use of Insecticides.--No air carrier, foreign air carrier, or 
ticket agent may sell air transportation in the United States for a 
flight on which an insecticide is planned to be used in the aircraft 
while passengers are on board the aircraft unless the air carrier, 
foreign air carrier, or ticket agent selling the air transportation 
first informs the person purchasing the air transportation of the 
planned use of the insecticide, including the name of the 
insecticide.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for such subchapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``41722. Air carrier passenger protection.''.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING ENFORCEMENT OF STATE LAWS.

    Section 41713(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``related to a price, route, or service of an air carrier that 
may provide air transportation under this subpart'' and inserting 
``that directly prescribes a price, route, or level of service for air 
transportation provided by an air carrier under this subpart''.
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