Frank Lautenberg: “I commend our colleague for this amendment and for the substance of the amendment. There has been constant pressure on…”

“I commend our colleague for this amendment and for the substance of the amendment. There has been constant pressure on the airlines to provide seats and make accommodations available. For those who think they are going on a journey--some emergencies, some recreational, some for routine work--it matters not. The fact of the matter is, when someone makes a reservation on an airplane, they ought to know whether or not there is a pretty good chance they will arrive at their chosen destination. We know there is not a way to positively predict this. However, the passengers who have paid for their tickets should have a pretty good chance of arriving when the flight is scheduled to arrive. I think this is positive amendment. It is pretty simple. The Senator from Oregon deals with the problem of airlines continuing to sell tickets on oversold flights and refusing to divulge that fact to their customers. I consider myself a friend of aviation. I have worked very hard with the FAA and the airlines to make sure we offer reliable and safe service. With all of the crowding, our system is still remarkably safe. It handles far more flights than we ever expected. Are we up to date in everything we can do? I say absolutely not; the requirements far exceed the capacity. The least we ought to do is tell passengers if there is a reasonable chance that they will get to their destination.”