ALEXANDRIA, VA.
-- The Senate passed a bill (S. 2845) that includes a provision
that would extend the passenger ticket protections designed to
safeguard passengers in the event an airline ceases operations due
to bankruptcy or insolvency. The provision was included in National
Intelligence Reform Act. A similar version of the bill is pending
in the House.
ASTA President Kathryn
Sudeikis said it was essential for Congress to extended the
protections, which are slated to run out on Nov. 19, so that
consumers can have at least some assurance that efforts will be
made to provide them with transportation in the event that one of
these financially distressed carriers were to actually cease
operation.
While ASTA called
on the House to take action on the bill, the Business Travel
Coalition (BTC) and ARTA teamed up to directly urge the airlines to
voluntarily extend the passenger ticket protections, originally
part of the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security
Act.
The BTC and ARTA
said that, as part of the act, airlines operating on the same
routes are obligated to transport passengers of airlines that have
ceased operations if space is available, and at a price not to
exceed $50 on a roundtrip basis. Passengers have 60 days from the
cessation of an airlines operations to make alternative
arrangements with another airline.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael
Milligan at [email protected].