Aaron Lambert

The regulations do not explicitly prohibit a practice I see today on several airline sites that leaves consumers with incomplete information. When a flight is "operated by" another carrier (such as a regional carrier), I often see no information on that flight, but only the carrier's so-called "mainline" flights it directly operates. My preferred carrier, USAirways, currently operates their site in this manner, where I can only see one flight's statistics listed, but not the second leg of my flight on their regional carrier. Therefore, I propose that rulemaking require a carrier to list performance statistics for ALL flights it tickets through its site, whether it be by code-share, sub-contracted carrier, etc. I also propose that 3 hours is unacceptably short period for a carrier to allow passengers to be essentially hostage. Airlines also must be held accountable to a standard of being a business. Every plane delayed contains passengers, often on business, where the delay of that passenger's business has a direct or indirect impact on that passenger's livelihood, often manyfold beyond the cost of the airfare. Even if the proposed maximum is shortened, the regulations should be written that provide the passenger with rights to: 1. Beverages (non-alcoholic) shall be provided for free, even if the airline customarily charges for them. At least 1 serving, per hour of the delay. Reasoning: Passengers with certain health conditions require hydration at least once per hour. 2. Use of any and all accceptable electronic devices during a substantial delay, including mobile telephony, until the aircraft is the #5 aircraft in taxi line for takeoff, or less than 15 minutes to takeoff, as ascertained by the captain. Reasoning: This is particularly important for passengers who could possibly call into a meeting, and not miss it completely because of airline electronic sterile-cabin rules being enforced unnecessarily. Passengers might also wish to modify other travel plans, as a result of the delay, and would wish to accomplish this while onboard the delayed plane, rather than waiting until arrival at destination. Current cabin rules on electronics are unacceptable during delays, and current policy of crew discretion should not be a passenger's only option. 3. Reasonable Reaccommodation to destination: If the aircraft is delayed at the gate, and has been delayed in pushback from gate or gate areas more than 30 minutes by any mechanical delays, customers should be allowed to request accommodation to board another flight(s) on the same airline, departing from the same airport, at their choosing, with no financial penalty or fee, so long as the non-delayed flight has seating capacity. The regulation should require this option be made available, so long as the alternate flight(s) are scheduled to depart more than 1 hour after the delayed flight's original departure time. If necessary, passengers should also be allowed to opt for connecting flight(s) to their original destination, at no financial penalty or fee, even if their original and delayed flight was a non-stop flight. Reasoning: This is just common sense. If another flight gets the passenger to their destination in a more certain or opportunistic way or schedule for the passenger, it should be their right and choice. 4. Airlines shall be prohibited from boarding the aircraft when a known "no-fly" maintenance issue is in progress, until a reasonable time for resolution can be guaranteed that does not delay the flight by more than 30 minutes. Passengers should be notified of the maintenance, and offered to be re-accommodated with alternate reservations at no additional costs, if the passenger so chooses, and seats are available. Reason: Countless travelers such as myself would take another flight option, if the delayed flight could be avoided before I was on-board. It is unacceptable for an airline to board and delay passengers, when the condition existed on last flight of the aircraft, and it is known before boarding has even begun. To force customers to board is an unacceptable practice, regardless of the airline's ground-crew availability, scheduling, or other labor / profitability concerns that may be mentioned by airline comments. Passengers often have other flight options, and would choose to use them, if airlines were more honest and transparent about delay potential. Business travelers on refundable fares, would want to exercise this option, for example, just to change over to another flight without the problems.