  |
|||
|
|
|
||
|
Posted by Evelyn Kanter Feb 6, 2007 |
I've just returned from a joyful week of skiing at Winter Park, Colorado. Delicious memories of pounding the powder and cruising the groomers with friends, both old and new, was all but wiped out by the frustrating one hour wait for my luggage at my home airport.
It doesn't matter which airline or which airport. Nobody should have to wait one hour for their luggage. Even worse, nobody should have to be imprisoned in an airplane that can't take off, sitting on the tarmac for hours and hours without food or water or clean bathrooms. That simply endangers the health and safety of the kids on board. Ditto the elderly and the chronically ill or handicapped.
Airline passengers are getting mad enough to tell the U.S. Congress to set some ground rules. It's called the Passengers Bill of Rights, and you can help by adding your name to a petition organized by the Coalition for the Passengers Bill of Rights.
Why do we need an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights? To prevent ridiculous delays that endanger our health and safety of passengers, and even that of the crew. Here's one exqmple:
Passengers on a recent flight from San Francisco to Dallas were diverted to Austin by bad weather. Airlines don't control weather, of course, but these passengers were trapped inside the plane for eight hours after it landed in Texas.
Food, water and soda had run out, the toilets were unusable. Again, it does not matter which airline. What matters is that passengers were literally held hostage inside a plane on the ground for long enough to endanger their health and safety.
Passengers have rights. I am a good girl -- I don't board until you call my row, buckle up and raise my seatback when you tell me to, and trust you to get me there safely. In exchange, I have the right to get my luggage in less than one hour. I have the right to get off the plane within a reasonable time after it lands, even if I have to get back on it again to continue my trip.
So vote for the Passengers Bill of Rights. I just did.