Calamity in Blue

JETBLUE CEO David Neeleman apologized profusely for his airline's system meltdown last week, telling customers whose flights were canceled or who were stranded on runways for as much as 10 hours that he was "mortified and humiliated," and pledging to give refunds, train more staff, and improve communications to avoid such a trauma in the future. It was ritualized corporate groveling at its most dramatic; all that was left, it seemed, was for Neeleman to announce he was checking into rehab.

But JetBlue is just the latest airline to hold passengers hostage for hours without adequate supplies or information when congestion or, more often, adverse weather conditions overwhelm their operations. In December, American Airlines kept passengers locked inside planes for nine hours without food or functioning toilets, waiting for storms to clear over Dallas. Last summer a United Airlines flight sat on the ground in Pennsylvania for eight hours, until the airline finally agreed to bus passengers to New York. The voluntary "customer service plans" adopted by the airlines clearly have not been good enough to prevent such fiascos. It's time for congressional action to enforce a passenger bill of rights.

California Democrat Mike Thompson, who had constituents stranded on American in December, is drafting such legislation to be filed in the House next week. Among other things, it would require airlines to return passengers to the airport terminal after three hours on a runway, and to provide food, clean water, proper ventilation and sanitary facilities during delays of any length. It would require airlines to provide frequent updates to passengers on a delay's cause and status.

Thompson's bill draws heavily from a 2001 report of the US Department of Transportation's inspector general, which found the airlines' voluntary customer plans were often insufficient to protect passenger rights. But momentum for stricter consumer requirements stalled after Sept. 11 and the airlines' financial collapse.

Now the industry has recovered enough to accept the modest requirements of Thompson's bill, which doesn't yet include substantial fines for noncompliance. A truly comprehensive reform would also involve the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees airport gates and other rules that can contribute to congestion.

In the mists of memory, air travel was an exciting, glamorous occasion one wouldn't dream of showing up for dressed in sweats. Now, during bad weather delays, airports are more like bus depots, with passengers and exploded luggage sprawled about and tempers flaring. Thompson's bill won't return air travelers to the days when stewardesses wore white gloves, but it would bring some measure of fairness to what has become a necessity of modern life.