Dems want airlines to pay flyers for oversold flights

Airlines would be forced to pay passengers who are bumped from an oversold flight $1,350 under a new proposal introduced in the Senate in the wake of a Southwest Airlines scheduling fiasco that led to 17,000 canceled flights over the holidays.

The bill, proposed last week by Democratic Sens. Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal, would require airlines to provide ticket refunds and alternative transportation for delays between one and four hours, and require airlines to pay for meals and lodging if a flight is delayed longer than that.

The Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights and Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act would also punish airlines for using weather as an excuse for delays and cancellations that are actually due to mismanagement, and force them to immediately refund bag fees for damaged or lost bags.

A separate Department of Transportation proposal would stop airlines from charging parents to sit next to their young children.

Outdated crew-scheduling technology led Southwest to cancel over 16,700 flights in 10 days.

“If passengers could receive 1,350 bucks whenever their flight is delayed by four hours . . . there’d be a lot fewer delays,” said Blumenthal, CBS News reported.