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Air travelers, do you rejoice? After three years of hard work, Congress has drafted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Authorization Bill, a 1,200-page door that addresses at least a few pages the biggest problems for passengers: boring company feesand transparency in pricing. Consumers will not get everything they want if the bill passes later this week. Airlines companies. (The bill should be put to a vote in the House on Wednesday, after which it will be introduced in the Senate and then in the President's office for signature.) But here, this epic bill boils down to a number of important elements:
What can change
Passenger seats: Congress members travel a lot and they are not happy bus cabins, no more. It is therefore not surprising that legislators have included language requiring the FAA Administrator to develop regulations – within one year – to establish minimum standards for seat size, the width of the seat and the width of the aisles.
Does this mean that passers-by will all fly into comfort soon after? Not necessarily. When this subject came before, the FAA emphasized that it only had jurisdiction over safety, namely the ability of seats to protect themselves from collisions and the ability of tractors to move in an emergency. That said, the FAA could still set a minimum location, which could be a good start, but do not look for the agency to start regulating the airline arrangements. In short, things are not likely to get worse for the coach drivers, but they probably will not improve either.
Passage of passengers: The measure prohibits airlines from removing passengers from a seat after embarkation, but most passenger trail episode aboard a United flight last year become viral. Indeed, it simply requires the airlines to keep their promises.
Supersonic air travel: The bill would also allow the return of a "supersonic" transport with reduced sound poles on the ground, at least one private company – the aptly named Boom Supersonic– Consider bringing it back by 2018. Hello, three hour flights from London at New York.
Information about your delayed flights: How many times have you wondered if this delay is really because of bad weather? Under the bill, regulators will have to determine whether this is an unfair or misleading practice when carriers use the excuse of bad weather when other factors are at stake. airlines to play the card "storm"? Bad weather is not their responsibility.)
Assistance animals: Congress has asked the FAA to regulate airline policies regarding service animals and assistance because it currently exists no uniform standardsInstead, each airline is responsible for implementing and enforcing its own rules, which can be confusing for travelers.
What will not change
Baggage and modification fees: A previous bill would have required airlines to provide supporting data to federal regulators to justify charges for baggage checks, ticket changes and other ancillary services. (This idea has recently gained momentum as most airlines Delta, United, JetBlue, and AmericanThe price of the first piece of checked luggage has been reduced to 30 dollars. In particular, members of Congress wished to know why the fee for modifying a reservation could rise to $ 200 for an action requiring a few strikes. Under the pressure of the airlines, legislators have abandoned this clause in the final draft.
Calls of cells in flight: Facing the prospect of a load of passengers shouting "Can you hear me?" in their aircraft, Congress declared that flying calls should be prohibited; However, Calls are already prohibited on American flights and there is little support to change this situation. So think of this clause as an insurance policy to prevent an airline from deciding at some point to allow calls (for a fee, of course).
Flight rights of foreign airlines: Lawmakers overturned a proposal backed by airlines and their unions that would have restricted access to US markets for foreign airlines like Norwegian Air which allegedly enforced lax labor laws like Norwegian flights from mid-sized American cities like Providence to points in Ireland and Scotland.
Tariff transparency: Airlines will still have to advertise the full price of the ticket, including mandatory fees and taxes, preserving a rule that airlines have been striving to repeal since its implementation in 2012.
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