[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 27 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1814-S1816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE AIRLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2001

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to voice my support for the 
Airline Customer Service Improvement Act. I commend Senator McCain for 
continuing to press this crucial consumer issue before the Senate in a 
bipartisan manner. I also applaud the efforts of Senator Wyden. Both 
have been leading advocates for air travelers. I am confident that we 
can work together to pass a pro-consumer bill into law.
  I am sure that each and every one of us in this body has experienced 
his or her fair share of frustration with air travel as have millions 
of Americans. Whether it's late flights, long lines, or lost luggage, 
we've all gotten the short end of the stick at one point or another.
  When it comes to air travel, we are all consumers. And this bill 
assures the protection of consumer interests. The Airline Customer 
Service Improvement Act would, among other things, ensure that 
passengers have the information that they need to make informed choices 
in their air travel plans.
  I think we were all encouraged in 1999 when the airlines came out 
with their own plan to improve customer service. While many of the 
airlines made improvements and responded to suggestions from the 
Department of Transportation's Inspector General, much more remains to 
be done.
  It is time air travelers' interests once again receive our attention. 
According to the Department of Transportation, consumer complaints 
about air travel went up by 14 percent from 1999 to 2000. This, coupled 
with a 25 percent increase from 1998 to 1999, adds up to an increase of 
almost 40 percent in two years. These complaints run the gamut: 
unstable ticket pricing; oversold flights; lost luggage; and flight 
delays, changes, and cancellations. In addition, in 2000 one in four 
flights was delayed, canceled, or diverted, affecting about 163 million 
passengers. Obviously, the airlines are not solely responsible as 
weather and mechanical breakdowns are part of the business, and of 
course we need to ensure that we maintain and improve airport 
infrastructure. But this bill addresses some problems that the airlines 
can fix.
  Perhaps of more importance, this bill does so without forcing 
airlines to compile information that they don't already keep. The bill 
simply allows air travelers the right to that basic information and the 
ability to make informed decisions.
  I am fortunate enough to be a customer of the premier airline when it 
comes to customer satisfaction and to represent most of its employees. 
For years, Midwest Express Airlines has been showered with some of the 
highest airline customer satisfaction ratings in the country. For those 
of my colleagues who have not yet experienced a flight on Midwest 
Express, I, and I am sure I speak for the senior Senator from 
Wisconsin, encourage you to do so.
  How does Midwest Express continue to maintain these superlative 
ratings? The answer is simple, it already incorporates some of the 
provisions spelled out in this bill. Midwest Express already tries to 
notify its travelers if it anticipates a flight delay, flight change, 
or flight cancellation. The airline already attempts to make 
information on oversold flights available to

[[Page S1815]]

its customers. Midwest Express already makes efforts to allow its 
customers access to frequent flyer program information. People fly the 
airline because the airline cares about its customers.
  These are some of the reasons the airline has been awarded the 
Consumer Reports Travel Letter Best Airline Award every year from 1992 
to 2000; Zagat Airline Survey's #1 Domestic Airline award in 1994 and 
1996; Travel & Leisure's World's Best Awards for Best Domestic Airline 
in 1997, 1998, and 2000; Conde Nast Traveler's Business Travel Awards 
for Best U.S. Airline in 1998 through 2000; and Conde Nast Traveler 
Reader's Choice Awards from 1995 through 2000; among many awards.
  Other airlines should see this bill as a challenge to meet the lofty 
standards set by airlines like Midwest Express.
  Air travel is on the rise, but so are air travel complaints. As we 
enter the summer travel season, we should do what we can to ensure that 
the flying public is treated fairly. This bill will give our 
constituents access to the information they need to make wise choices 
in air travel and help them to avoid frustration, inconvenience, and 
sometimes costly delays. Airlines truly concerned about their customers 
should already be making these efforts. I urge my colleagues to join in 
this effort.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, as we acknowledge the passing of an 
entire decade since the victory of coalition forces in Desert Storm, we 
must simultaneously admit that this military victory has not translated 
into achievement of desired objectives.
  Recent events and intelligence assessments have once again focused 
attention on Iraq. Saddam Hussein has rebuilt any weapons production 
capabilities that were damaged or destroyed in the Desert Fox 
operations in late 1998. Despite military defeat, despite thwarted 
attempts by the U.N. Special Commission, and despite a decade of 
sanctions, Iraq under Saddam Hussein's leadership remains a threat.
  Two weeks ago strikes at command and control centers outside of the 
no-fly zones reminded the American public that our pilots have been 
patrolling Iraqi skies for ten years. Although we haven't yet lost any 
pilots or planes in this ongoing operation, a decade of this routine 
and the wear and tear on the aircraft without any end in sight has 
caused many people to question the prudence of this policy and 
approach.
  The reason for this attack underscored again the constant risk to 
British and U.S. pilots in this mission. This article entitled ``Highly 
Dangerous'' highlights that risk.
  New Mexicans or New Mexico-based wings have been heavily involved in 
this mission. Cannon's 27th Fighter Wing and the 150th Fighter Wing, 
the ``Tacos'' of the New Mexico Air National Guard fly these patrols.
  As Iraqi air defenses get upgraded and Iraqi pilots continue to 
violate the no-fly restrictions, we must do everything possible to 
protect the U.S. personnel involved in these missions.
  I am grateful that Secretary Powell took it upon himself to tour the 
Middle East and began formulating new policies for the Bush 
Administration on Iraq. The baton passed from the Clinton 
Administration on Iraq offered no exit strategy.
  I guess as long as no one got killed, the previous Administration was 
comfortable wearing out our pilots and our military aircraft under the 
pretense that their policy was working.
  It wasn't and it's not. We need a comprehensive rethink. If our 
pilots are over there, it should be more than to patrol airspace while 
Saddam rebuilds his weapons production capacity and starves his people 
on the ground.
  I look forward to an enlightened and effective policy on Iraq. And I 
think daily about the safety of the pilots who continue to perform 
their duty.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Albuquerque Journal 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Albuquerque Journal, Feb. 25, 2001]

 Highly Dangerous--New Mexico-Based Fighter Pilots Patrol Iraq No-Fly 
           Zones Knowing They Could Be Shot Down at Any Time

                          (By John J. Lumpkin)

       Cannon Air Force Base--The pilots call it ``going to the 
     desert.''
       Life is often dull. The work is repetitive. Yet danger 
     always is in the air.
       Most of the pilots with Cannon's 27th Fighter Wing have 
     gone at least once, and some repeatedly. They, and their F-16 
     fighters, are prime tools in the United States' decade-long, 
     low-intensity war against the machinations of Iraqi President 
     Saddam Hussein.
       The three F-16 combat squadrons at Cannon are part of the 
     rotation for Operations Northern and Southern Watch, which 
     patrol the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq. The 
     squadrons take their turns with other fighter units from a 
     U.S. and British coalition to enforce the zones, over which 
     Iraq has been prohibited from flying military aircraft since 
     the Gulf War.
       They are called up for 90 to 120 days. Pilots, restricted 
     to an air base, say the uneventful stays are punctuated by 
     several long, usually uneventful patrols over Iraq.
       But the routine gets exciting from time to time when Iraq 
     tests its limits.
       ``The intensity is still there,'' said Lt. Col. Bob 
     ``Wilbur'' Wright, commander of the 523rd Fighter Squadron, 
     the ``Crusaders,'' who returned from a tour with Southern 
     Watch late last summer. ``You're always flying with the 
     chance of getting shot down. At any moment we could lose an 
     aircraft.''
       U.S. and British aircraft struck an Iraqi air defense 
     system near Baghdad on Feb. 16 in a move the Pentagon 
     described as self-protection. The strikes were made to reduce 
     the chances of losing aircraft to surface-to-air missiles or 
     gunfire.
       Iraq began regularly challenging the no-fly zones in 
     December 1998, after the four-day ``Desert Fox'' Allied 
     bombing campaign.
       Cannon's 522nd Fighter Squadron, the ``Fireballs,'' took 
     part in the bombing. Cannon's third combat squadron, the 
     ``Hounds'' of the 524th, also have taken frequent turns in 
     the desert.


                          Planes and missiles

       Since Desert Fox, Iraq has fired missiles or anti-aircraft 
     guns at coalition planes about 700 times. Not a single one 
     has been shot down.
       Iraqi aircraft also have violated the no-fly zones more 
     than 150 times. When Iraqi air-craft cross out of the no-fly 
     zone, coalition air-craft chase them back.
       Wright and a wingman were part of one of those encounters 
     during his summer deployment, when an Iraqi fighter crossed 
     the border into the southern no-fly zone. Wright and his 
     wingman locked their radars on the plane, which fled.
       ``I think they test the water periodically,'' said Wright, 
     who has been to the region five times in the last decade--
     three times over the north, twice over the south.
       His plane, an F-16C Fighting Falcon, is a nimble, single-
     seat fighter that can both dog-fight and bomb targets.
       When Iraq fires at U.S. or British planes, the aircraft 
     usually return fire or bomb other elements of Iraq's air 
     defense system. Usually those targets are within the no-fly 
     zones.
       The strikes happen almost weekly and usually rate little 
     news coverage. But Iraq has said the attacks have killed 300 
     people and injured more than 800, including civilians.
       The Washington Post reported in October that the United 
     States scaled back the aggressiveness of its patrols after 
     intelligence analysts misidentified a sheep-watering tank as 
     a surface-to-air missile launcher on satellite photos. U.S. 
     aircraft bombed and strafed the site, and Iraq said 19 
     people, shepherds and villagers, were killed.
       Wright said intelligence officials, air staff and pilots 
     make great efforts to avoid hitting civilians.
       ``What we go after and what we hit are militarily 
     significant targets,'' he said. ``I have a conscience, too. I 
     want to be sure of what we're hitting.''


                           Support for rebels

       With United Nations' approval, the two no-fly zones were 
     born after the 1991 Gulf War in an attempt to limit Saddam's 
     use of his air power against uprisings in the northern and 
     southern reaches of his country. Iraq isn't allowed to fly 
     aircraft in those regions.
       Southern Watch flies out of air bases in Kuwait and Saudi 
     Arabia, and planes patrol a region south of the 33rd 
     parallel.
       It was intended to support an uprising of Shiite Muslim 
     rebels in the south. Saddam crushed that rebellion in the 
     early 1990s.
       Norther Watch flies out of Incirlik, an airbase in Turkey. 
     Planes patrol a comparatively small part of Iraq north of the 
     36th parallel. The operation began in 1997.
       Several F-16 fighters and a few hundred airmen of the 150th 
     Fighter Wing--the ``Tacos'' of the Air National Guard from 
     Kirtland Air Force Base--now fly patrols with Northern Watch.
       Northern Watch was intended to support uprisings by the 
     Kurdish minority.
       Recent reports indicate some Kurdish towns are thriving. 
     But the Kurds still face attacks from Turkey, which fears 
     internal Kurdish dissent and uses U.S.-made jets to bomb 
     Kurdish territory in Iraq.
       The no-fly zones have grown less popular over the years 
     among other nations, even those that were part of the 
     coalition that opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. China says 
     the no-fly zones violate the territorial integrity of Iraq. 
     Russia now says they don't have U.N. backing. France, once a 
     partner in the coalition, stopped flying aircraft over the 
     zones in 1998, declaring them ``pointless and deadly.''
       Wright, for one, is a believer.
       ``We keep the area somewhat stable,'' he said. ``We've 
     prevented Saddam Hussein from further injuring his own 
     people.''

[[Page S1816]]

                            Better defenses

       Despite their inability to hit anything, Iraqi gunners and 
     missile operators are getting better.
       ``There's some indications they have learned from their 
     experience,'' Wright said. ``They've seen us for 10 years 
     now.''
       Pentagon spokesmen said that the Feb. 16 strikes were in 
     response to the increased ``frequency and sophistication of 
     their (air defense) operations.''
       U.S. officials also have confirmed that China is supplying 
     Iraq with a fiber-optic communications system that would 
     integrate the operations of the country's air defenses.
       Capt. Steve ``Roid'' Astor has been to the desert twice 
     with F-16 units. He said the greatest danger is that pilots 
     lose their focus on the long, uneventful patrols.
       ``Let's not get complacent,'' he said. ``It can be 
     deadly.''
       To hear the pilots tell it, life on an air base in these 
     faraway lands is fairly dull. Threats of terrorism keep them 
     restricted to the bases, especially for the Southern Watch 
     pilots in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
       Cannon pilot Capt. Shannon ``Pinball'' Prasek flew nine 
     combat missions with Southern Watch from February to April 
     1998. She protected airborne radars should they be attacked 
     by Iraqi aircraft.
       ``It was pretty quiet. It was a religious holiday (for the 
     Iraqis),'' she said. She describes with some humor the polite 
     bewilderment of Kuwaiti fighter pilots at seeing a woman 
     combat pilot at their joint airbase.
       One of Wright's ``Crusaders,'' 1st Lt. Trena Emerson is 
     waiting for her first rotation overseas. She is eager to fly 
     her first missions in a combat area, although she said she 
     hasn't heard much about the region from her more seasoned 
     colleagues, and her impressions are limited: ``Everyone comes 
     back in shape and tan,'' she joked.


                            Saddam's bounty

       The Cannon pilots regard the conflict as one against 
     Saddam, rather than the Iraqi people or even the country's 
     armed forces.
       When they fly over Iraq, the pilots have a price on their 
     head. The Iraqi president has reportedly offered a reward to 
     anyone who shoots down an aircraft.
       Wright expects to return to the desert late this year. 
     ``I'll miss another Christmas. . . . It does have an effect 
     on the family.''
       But he praises the ``esprit de corps'' in his squadron, 
     brought on, in part, by the remoteness of Cannon Air Force 
     Base. ``This is almost like an overseas assignment.''
       Wright is a pilot of some renown in the Air Force. He was 
     the first U.S. pilot since the Korean War to get three kills 
     in a single mission when he shot down three Bosnian Serb 
     Jastreb fighter-bombers violating a no-fly zone on Feb. 28, 
     1994, over Bosnia. This mission also marked NATO's first 
     military strikes in its history, and Wright earned the 
     Distinguished Flying Cross for his role.
       Wright was also Capt. Scott O'Grady's wing-leader in June 
     1995 over Bosnia when O'Grady was shot down by a Bosnian Serb 
     surface-to-air missile. O'Grady was rescued five days later.

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