Senate introduces passenger's rights bill

By Joe Brancatelli

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Is the Third Time the Charm for 'Passenger's Rights'?: U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Ca) and Olympia Snow (R-Me) have once again introduced a passenger's rights bill in Congress. Among other things, it would require aircraft to return to the gate and let you disembark if a flight is stuck on an airport tarmac for three hours. But it doesn't require that an airline offer alternate transportation if you disembark. It doesn't require that an airline retrieve your checked luggage. It doesn't require that an airline refund your money if you choose not to fly after disembarking. And, it has the requisite "safety or security" loophole that many critics agree will allow airlines to render the bill useless. This is the third consecutive year that the passenger's rights legislation has been introduced.

NEED TO KNOW

On-the-Road Intelligence to Help You Travel Smarter: FlightStats.com says New York's three major airports were the worst in the nation for on-time performance in 2008. LaGuardia operated at just 61.8 percent, Newark at 61.9 and Kennedy at 64 percent. The next worst won't surprise you, either. Chicago/O'Hare managed just 67.1 percent on-time operations and San Francisco airport operated at 69 percent. … Speaking of New York, the East Coast Air Shuttles continue their descent into minor-league status. Several weeks ago, Delta Air Lines said some of its LaGuardia-Washington/National flights were converting to regional jets. In March, US Airways will begin mixing in regional jets on weekend flights on both the Boston-LaGuardia and National-LaGuardia runs.

INTERNATIONAL AGENDA

Flying in Africa, Always Difficult, Gets Harder: Virgin Nigeria, one of the airlines in Richard Branson's stable, seems to be going the way of many Branson ventures. Just three years after launching with typical Bransonian bombast, Virgin Nigeria has been forced to shut down its only long-haul routes. Service from Lagos to London/Gatwick and Johannesburg ends later this month, but the airline insists its intra-Nigeria flights will continue. Meanwhile, the always difficult Africa flying environment worsens with news of the closure of Zambian Airways. … Delta Air Lines is backing off some international route launches it had announced just a few weeks ago. The airline says its planned Raleigh/Durham-Paris/CDG route won't begin after all, nor will a New York/Kennedy-Gothenburg, Sweden, service. Both routes were due to begin in June. … Continental Airlines says that it will switch seasonal summer flights between its Cleveland hub and London to Heathrow Airport. The airline had been using London's Gatwick Airport. The carrier also says that it is ending its seasonal Cleveland-Paris route.

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