Political Quotes

“today I am pleased to re-introduce the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act, a critical piece of airline passenger safety legislation. Anyone who has traveled recently recognizes that the delays travelers are encountering at airports are a national problem that needs our immediate attention. Americans are all too familiar with the numerous horror stories of passengers trapped in airplanes sitting on runways for sometimes as much as 11 hours without adequate food or water, overflowing restrooms, and no opportunity to deplane. The delays continue. On the Sunday before Christmas 2008, more than 250 passengers on a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Boston were diverted to Bangor, ME, where they spent about 6 hours idling on the tarmac before they were told that they were going to deplane for the night and would have to find shelter and transportation on their own. When these passengers returned the next day for their trip home, not only was their flight delayed 5 hours but they also spent another 2 hours idling on the tarmac before finally flying to Boston. In 1999, the airlines had an opportunity to address the stranding of airline passengers on tarmacs across the country, but despite those efforts little has changed. Last March a Federal appeals court ruling struck down New York State's Passenger Bill of Rights law, stating that it is up to the Congress to set a national Federal standard.”