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Government/Legislation - October 2008
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Passenger bills of rights get attention internationally
In Canada, travelers lost one more option for flying last month with the sudden failure of Zoom Airlines. Since 2000, Harmony Airlines, Jetsgo, CanJet/Canada 3000, and now Zoom, have all ceased operations, each time leaving travelers with useless tickets and little recourse.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has stated that its role in these cases is to work with travel operations and airlines to get travelers to their destinations, and the traveler’s obligation is to pay for the newly arranged flight and seek a refund from the original airline.
Last June, Parliament tabled the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights in a 249-0 vote for drafting new regulations that would compensate travelers for negative flying experiences including lost luggage, cancelled and delayed flights, bankruptcies, and interrupted operations—similar to those passed by the European Union in 2005, and currently being considered in the U.S. Congress.
The European Union’s air passenger rights specify compensation based on length of journey and delay time for travelers who become victims of overbooking, lengthy delays, and sudden cancellations of flights that are “within the airline’s control.”
In the United States, the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2007 introduced in February 2007, and still under consideration “requires each air carrier in the case of a delayed departure, to provide passengers with: (1) adequate food, potable water, and restroom facilities; and (2) an option to deplane, with exceptions, if more than three hours have elapsed, and during any subsequent three-hour periods of delay.” Progress on the bill—S. 678—can be tracked—as well as an opportunity to participate, can be found at govtrack.us.
Sources: canada.com, ec.europa.eu/transport, govtrack.us
New bill addresses search and seizure of electronic equipment
New legislation, called the “ Travelers’ Privacy Protection Act of 2008” was introduced on September 26, 2008 in the United States (Senate bill S. 3612 and House bill H.R. 7118).
This legislation is described as “A bill to protect citizens and legal residents of the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures of electronic equipment at the border, and for other purposes.”
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has endorsed the bill, stating that it “ introduces a much higher, and necessary, level of accountability to the laptop examination process.”
Features of the proposed legislation include:
Search- The requirement that the U.S. resident transporting the electronic equipment be allowed to be present for the search.
- Guidelines relating to the scope of the search and the environment in which it is conducted.
Seizure- A requirement regarding application for a warrant describing the equipment to be searched and the content to be seized.
- Established timelines for how long the equipment or copies of its content can be retained while application for a warrant is pending.
Additional information regarding this bill can be found at govtrack.us.
Sources: traveldailynews.com, travelweekly.com, govtrack.us
