FAA Bill Could Relieve Air Travelers With Cluttered Seats: NPR

The US Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to re-authorize the Federal Aviation Administration, including provisions requiring the FAA to set a minimum size for commercial aircraft seats.

Carlos Osorio / AP

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Carlos Osorio / AP

The US Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to re-authorize the Federal Aviation Administration, including provisions requiring the FAA to set a minimum size for commercial aircraft seats.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Air travelers frustrated by the lack of legroom and narrow seats could finally benefit from some relief thanks to legislation passed Wednesday by the US Senate. A bill re-authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, which was passed by 93 votes to 6, includes a provision requiring the FAA to set a minimum size for commercial aircraft seats, including a minimum distance between seats.

Airlines have reduced this distance in recent years to place more seats and passengers on planes and to generate more revenue for each flight.

The bill also provides disaster relief of nearly $ 1.7 billion to help residents of the Carolinas and other states recover from Hurricane Florence and other recent disasters. Lawmakers say funding for those affected by Hurricane Florence is only a down payment and that billions of additional dollars will likely be needed in the future.

The House passed the FAA bill last week and the White House said that President Trump intended to pass it.

Relief for air travelers at the narrow

The bill attacks a wide range of issues that have angered air travelers. In addition to prescribing a minimum size for aircraft seats to prevent narrowing of legroom, the law also prohibits airlines from removing passengers from overbooked aircraft after boarding.

In April 2017, a United Airlines passenger who refused to give up his seat was violently taken away from a plane by security guards at the O 'Hare airport in Chicago. The video of the incident, showing the face dragged by the passenger, fired, arousing outrage worldwide and prompting Congress to hold hearings on the practice of overbooking and passenger rollover.

But the bill does not target another major irritant for air travelers: the nickel and ten cents fees charged by the airlines for checking baggage or changing reservations. An approved provision by a Senate committee would have limited fees for checked baggage and a charge to change or cancel a flight, which made them "reasonable", that is, closer to the actual cost of providing the service. Airlines raised nearly $ 7.5 billion of these royalties last year, helping to improve their bottom line and make almost record profits.

But the intense lobbying of the airlines has taken away the language of the final version of the bill.

"Congress has missed a historic opportunity, once in a generation, to prevent gargantuan airlines from exploiting Americans with exorbitant fees every time they fly," said Sen. Edward Markey. , Democrat of Massachusetts, voting against the FAA bill.

Other provisions of the FAA bill that would impact consumers include:

• Funding the increase in the number of bomb sniffer dogs, the new passenger screening technology and the simplification of the registration process for accelerated checks, all with the aim of shortening the deadlines of the Transportation Security Administration.
• Expand the ban on smoking on board to include electronic cigarettes.
• Prohibit passengers from talking on the cell phone during flights; most airlines already forbid them.
• Establish new rules for the transportation of pets and service animals or "emotional support", including a provision making it illegal to place a live animal in the upper luggage compartment. This provision comes after the death of a small dog in an aircraft carrier after being placed in the upper luggage compartment during a United flight in March.
• Increase the minimum rest period between shifts for flight attendants from eight to ten, as for pilots.
• Require airports to provide lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.
• Create a "Bill of Rights" for disabled passengers.
• To address sexual assault in the air, harassment and other acts of sexual misconduct by establishing a working group on the issue and instructing the Department of Justice to develop reporting standards for sexual assault. sexual assault.

The FAA's Reauthorization Bill provides for the allocation of approximately $ 90 billion to federal aviation programs over the next five years, without, however, including a proposed increase in aviation costs. Installation of $ 4.50 per ticket.

Airport authorities across the country have called for an increase, saying additional funds are needed to improve airport facilities and renovate obsolete terminals.

Republican leaders also abandoned efforts to privatize the FAA's air traffic control operations, which had been backed by President Trump.