US Senate to airlines: Stop shafting your passengers (please?)

Some lawmakers in the US Senate, shortly before gorging themselves on taxpayer-funded federally unpardoned turkey and retiring into dimly lit sequestration for the remainder of the year to engage in various unspeakable biological activities, have thrown into the ring a bill and a letter air travellers may actually be happy about.

The bill, the catchily acronymed Airline Passenger BASICS Act (Basic Airline Standards to Improve Customer Satisfaction) Act (and by the way US Senate, if you're looking for a freelance catchy acronym writer, contact us at AMERICA (Acronyms Meeting Every Requirement Involving Catchiness for America)) looks to restore some measure of sanity to the airlines, which, I think we can all agree, have extended pricing lunacy to its logical extreme.

The Airline Passenger Basic Airline Standards to Improve Customer Satisfaction Act Act, if we've expanded its official name correctly, was introduced on the 22nd of November by US Senator for Louisiana Mary Landrieu (D). What it does it basically improve airline passenger customer satisfaction by forcing airlines to freely provide the rudimentary services that they used to provide before they went completely berserk with the fees.

These are the right to check, for free, a bag. And the right to carry on, for free, another bag. On top of these privileges, airlines are expected to provide a reasonable quantity of potable drinking water and passenger access to bathroom facilities (with, presumably, a reasonable supply of toilet paper), also for free. Expect lobbyists in the pay of the airlines to very shortly scream bloody murder at the injustice of it all.

To quote the distinguished senator:

“When an airline advertises a flight, that is how much it should cost, plain and simple. Passengers should not be charged additional fees for checked or carry-on baggage, drinkable water or other reasonable requests. Air travel can be a stressful experience for many reasons, but unfair fees for basic amenities should not be one of them,” said Sen. Landrieu. “Passengers have been nickeled and dimed for far too long and something has to be done about it. Air carriers should be required to provide a minimum standard of service to their passengers or face additional fees – that is what the Airline Passenger BASICS Act and the FAIR Act will do.”

While we're astonished that air travel has degraded to the point that such a law is even necessary, we certainly applaud this effort to restore some measure of humanity to the whole dismal process. And if it involves a little unwelcome intrusion of the government into the private sector, who cares? I'm sure as hell not paying $20 to bring a toothbrush and a change of underwear to Aunt Betty's farm, dammit.

While we're on the subject, a related letter was fired off to DOT Secretary LaHood by US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) hard on the heels of the Airline Passenger Basic Airline Standards to Improve Customer Satisfaction Act Act (hmm. That still sounds a little strange). His letter suggests airlines could maybe think about no longer trying to dupe their unwitting customers into getting shafted by hidden fees when booking flights, which many of us find annoying.

“It is incredibly frustrating – especially when trying to save money on travel – to purchase an airline ticket at a decent price today only to show up at the check-in counter next week and be hit with a bunch of fees unknown or unseen at the time of purchase,” said Menendez during a press conference today inside a Newark Airport terminal. “Quality comparison shopping for airline ticket prices shouldn’t be a guessing game, it should be a guarantee.”

First, airline fees must be transparent. If consumers are expected to pay fees for services that have historically been included in the base fare, then at the very least, they should be informed of all of the fees and their cost before they purchase the ticket. This would allow the flying public to know the “all-in” price for a flight, including baggage, seating, boarding, as well as taxes and any other fees before they make their purchase.

Second, passengers should be able to pay for services that have historically been included in the base fare regardless of when and where they book their ticket. Passengers often book tickets weeks or even months in advance. Sometimes these passengers are surprised to find that by the time they actually fly, the fees for core services have increased. If consumers have the ability to pay for these services at the point of purchase, this no longer becomes an issue.

Third, airlines must make every effort to keep information on fees up to date. The DOT’s April order requires airlines to update a list of services at least every 90 days. Unfortunately, because fees can change more frequently, such a requirement could leave passengers ill-informed about how to compare different flights. Consumers need real-time information about airline fees in order to make informed choices at the time of purchase. As we understand it, such up-to-the-minute updates are technologically feasible and achievable.

Seems pretty fair. God knows if it will help.