With all the drama going on with the Kavanaugh nomination, it’s easy to miss a major law that has unanimously passed Congress two weeks ago and has now been signed into law by the President: the “The FAA Re-authorization Bill.”
–> Prohibit Airlines from bumping passengers who have already boarded the plane.
–> FAA must now set minimum standards for seat width and seat pitch
–> Flight Attendants now have a minimum rest time
–> It is now illegal to store a dog or other animal in an overhead bin
–> E-Cigarettes are now banned
–> Homeland Security can now shoot down drones if they are deemed a threat to airspace.
–> Airlines are now required to board pregnant women first
–> Airlines are required to refund passengers for services that were never received.
–> Airlines must allow passengers to check strollers in when traveling with small children
–> There is now a task force assigned to investigating sexual harassment cases on airlines.
In changing times, these laws are very much necessary, but notice how the bill does not take a stand on important issues like baggage fees, the actual airline seat size, and fees charged for checking a stroller in. This really tells me that the airline lobbyists really had their way with Congress because the provisions for any airline fees are quite vague.
Nonetheless it is definitely nice to see there is some attention being paid to recent issues of sexual harassment on the airplane, dogs being killed in the overhead bin spaces, and bumping passengers. (it’s funny how United is involved in 2/3 of these cases lol)
I guess we should be happy we even got this much out of a Congress, which seems to have its own interests at heart all the time. This is definitely a victory for passengers…..
