Airline Passenger Bill of Rights?

Ross Reynolds
02/20/2007 at 1:00 p.m.

Jet Blue passengers sit on the ground for 10 hours waiting for takeoff. United Express diverts Denver bound flights to Cheyenne, WY. Then the empty jets leave the next day, stranding passengers. Incidents like this are prompting calls for stronger consumer protections for airline passengers. Should there be laws to prevent these things from happening? Some members of congress want laws limiting the number of hours passengers sit on planes on the ground. Airline passenger groups want a flier's bill of rights to protect the consumer. The airlines resist government regulations. They believe inflexible laws could make the problems worse. What do you think? Is the weather to blame for these problems? Or are the airlines abusing the rights of paying passengers? Is it time to re–regulate the airline industry with new consumer protections?

Guests:
Melissa Wheeler is a member of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights. She wrote the petition to Congress to pass a Passenger's Bill of Rights. She joins us on the phone from Oakhurst, CA.
Dan Olson is the Faculty Advisor of the Nap Club, and chair of the Department of Soc and Anthropology at Indiana State University in South Bend. He's never been to a meeting of the Nap Club, but he agreed to sign the papers necessary to make the Nap Club official.
Timothy Ravich is a lawyer in Florida. He has taught aviation law at the University of Miami law school. He wrote a piece for the journal of Air, Law and Commerce in 2002 called Re-Regulation and Airline passengers Rights.