[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 31 (Saturday, February 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2204-S2205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 678. A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to ensure air 
passengers have access to necessary services while on a grounded air 
carrier and are not unnecessarily held on a grounded air carrier before 
or after a flight, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator 
Olympia Snowe to introduce ``The Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act 
of 2007,'' a bill which addresses an issue recently in the news--
airlines trapping passengers on the ground in delayed planes for hours 
and hours without adequate food, water or bathrooms.
  This week, at John F. Kennedy International Airport, a JetBlue 
airplane sat on the tarmac for 11 hours. Over this New Year's Eve 
weekend, American Airlines had to divert planes to Austin because of 
the bad weather and one plane sat on the tarmac for nine hours.
  For the passengers, the conditions were not good. There was not 
enough food and potable water, and the bathrooms stopped working. 
According to news reports, after waiting for five hours an elderly 
woman asked for food and was told she could purchase a snack box for 
$4.
  This is unacceptable.
  I have been stuck on the tarmac many times in my travel back and 
forth to California. Weather delays are unavoidable, but airlines must 
have a plan to ensure that their passengers--which often include 
infants and the elderly--are not trapped on a plane for hours and 
hours. If a plane is stuck on the tarmac or at the gate for hours, a 
passenger should have the right to deplane. No one should be held 
hostage on an aircraft when an airline can clearly find a way to get 
passengers off safely.
  This is not the first time that passengers have been trapped on an 
airplane an extreme amount of time. In 1999, after a Northwest plane 
was delayed on the tarmac for at least nine hours with the same poor 
conditions, many Members of Congress were outraged and several 
introduced comprehensive passenger bill of rights legislation.
  While those bills did not become law, they had a powerful effect on 
the airlines, which agreed to a 12-point ``Airline Customer Service 
Plan.'' In the plan, the airlines committed to providing passengers 
with better information about ticket prices and delays, better efforts 
to retrieve lost luggage, fairer ``bumping'' policies and to meeting 
essential needs during long on-aircraft delays. And since 1999 the 
airlines have made improvements to passenger service.
  But in recent years, as the industry has grown ever more competitive, 
airlines are increasingly operating with no margin of error. Planes are 
completely sold out, gates are continuously utilized, airport 
facilities are stretched thin. This means that when bad weather hits, 
the airlines can find themselves unable to readily accommodate delays 
and cancellations. And the results, as we have seen this winter, can be 
disastrous.
  And that is why today we are introducing the ``Airline Passenger Bill 
of Rights Act of 2007,'' commonsense legislation designed to ensure 
that travelers can no longer be unnecessarily trapped on airplanes for 
excessive periods of time or deprived of food, water or adequate 
restrooms during a ground delay.
  The legislation requires airlines to offer passengers the option of 
safely leaving a plane they have boarded once

[[Page S2205]]

that plane has sat on the ground three hours after the plane door has 
closed. This option would be provided every three hours that the plane 
continues to sit on the ground.
  The legislation also requires airlines to provide passengers with 
necessary services such as food, potable water and adequate restroom 
facilities while a plane is delayed on the ground.
  The legislation provides two exceptions to the three-hour option. The 
pilot may decide to not allow passengers to deplane if he or she 
reasonably believes their safety or security would be at risk due to 
extreme weather or other emergencies. Alternately, if the pilot 
reasonably determines that the flight will depart within 30 minutes 
after the three hour period, he or she can delay the deplaning option 
for an additional 30 minutes.
  I believe this legislation will do much to help consumers while 
placing reasonable requirements on the airlines and I hope my 
colleagues will support it.
                                 ______