FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009

Floor Speech

FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - May 21, 2009)

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Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chairman, I have offered an amendment today which would give the FAA administrator 180 days to issue regulations to mandate giving consumers an option for text message and/or e-mail notification from carriers in the event of a delay or canceled flight. The amendment would, consistent with the existing regulations, apply to 18 major carriers who earn at least 1 percent of the domestic passenger service revenue and in that way those carriers could, in fact, provide a commonsense option for all passengers.

The reason for the amendment is that a limited number of carriers offer this service, and those who do often only provide the service to those who are willing to participate in membership clubs or incentives to join. With well-known horror stories of delayed and canceled flights, combined with the widespread capabilities for the use of cell phones and BlackBerrys nationwide, it's time to provide a 21st century solution to the American flying public. Americans and worldwide travelers are calling for solutions that would enable critical information people need to ensure proper planning in the case of a delay or cancellation.

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There is overwhelming evidence that delays and cancellations continue to be a common nuisance.

About 24 percent of all flights, that is almost 1 out of 4, were delayed or cancelled in 2008. In a 2006 example that garnered media attention, thunderstorms shut down American Airlines' operations in Dallas-Fort Worth and passengers were stranded for nine hours or more.

Major chokepoints for travelers have been large, hub airports. Even when Chicago, New York, Atlanta or San Francisco is not your final destination, thousands of passengers are routed through those hubs for a connection.

Although, with a decline in air traffic due to our economic condition, progress is still slow in many of our major airports such as JFK or LaGuardia in New York, or Chicago's O'Hare. Even worse, San Francisco International actually saw an increase in delay times by 6 percent from 2007 to 2008.

There are many reasons that a delay could occur and unfortunately most passengers are not aware, for example, of poor weather conditions in other cities that indirectly affect their flight. In one example, a direct flight last year from Denver to Alabama was delayed 8 hours because the airline did not have a plane available. The plane was grounded in Aspen, Colorado due to snow and could not make the trip to Denver.

This is a common example of an airline having prior notice of an upcoming delay. The airline could have sent each passenger who requested it an email or text message, and those passengers could have more time to plan a different route or contact their family with the news.

This past March, snow slammed the East Coast unexpectedly. In the New York region alone, the storm caused 350 cancelled flights at Newark Airport, 115 at JFK, and 450 at LaGuardia.

One woman, Ms. Marreta Rashad, did not find out her flight home to Houston was cancelled until she had already made the long trek to LaGuardia. ``I'm not unhappy about the snow,'' she said. ``I'm unhappy about the fact they don't notify you.''

Customer service matters. Why? It is in the economic interests of this nation for the continuation of a stable aviation industry while protecting their customers and providing them with the tools to make informed traveling decisions. The summer travel season is coming and it is important for every American business, large and small, that folks travel around the country to keep our tourism sector strong.

It is important to note that this amendment does not call for the aviation carriers to provide the service at no cost; similar to if someone makes a 4-1-1 information call on their cell phone, passengers will pay whatever their telecommunications or electronic plan requires. But, passengers should have the piece of mind to know that if they choose, they will be armed with the latest information.

I want to thank Chairman Oberstar and Chairman Costello for their feedback on this amendment. I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment.

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