Passenger Bill of Rights for air travel

[OHGoDive]

Just tell them you need to get off the plane.

Don't ask, tell them. I cannot believe how often people forfeit their rights.

This sounds a lot more reasonable to me than getting Congress to pass some Bill of Rights. People have rights, they just forget to use them. You may not always get what you want, but, it beats waiting around for someone (especially government) to fix it.

 

[OHGoDive]

Thanks Don. I was just curious. So it was the airline at fault here.

As I understand it, by the time the airline realized that they needed to get people off of the plane, the equipment to facilitate that was not operational. It was frozen.

So, rather than deploy emergency slides and push men, women and children to the tarmac in horrendous weather conditions, they had to wait until they had the ability to get them back indoors safely.

People are acting like they put them out there and left them as some sort of science experiment. It's not quite that simple.

The conditions were pretty harsh. There were planes at gates. The planes that weren't couldn't move or be moved safely.

My guess is that there were probably dozens of decisions that were made by many different people and organizations, any one of which, in hindsight, could have avoided or alleviated the problem.

Which is another good reason why legislation isn't going to prevent it. It's going to happen again if conditions or the stars align, deal with it.

Like Catherine said, if you don't want to stay on the plane, get off. Figure it out.

 

[Mossman]

I am surprised many don't....??

They lower the O2 level in the plane to keep them docile.

 

[akbpilot]

Just tell them you need to get off the plane.

Don't ask, tell them. I cannot believe how often people forfeit their rights.

Too funny. Spend a little time someday when you are bored and actually research what your "rights" are once the airline closes the door on that plane. I think you and a lot of others would be in for a rude awakening. The best you could hope for would be to create enough of a problem that the airline calls for security to remove you. Of course I can pretty much guess where you will be spending the next few days.

 

[DandyDon]

As I understand it, by the time the airline realized that they needed to get people off of the plane, the equipment to facilitate that was not operational. It was frozen.

If they can't keep their equipment operational in a storm, then should they be allowed to board people in a storm?

The slide would be a last resort. Buses, moving stairways, blankets.

 

[Cacia]

I am willing to bet you I could get off that plane with very little fuss.

So...what are they going to do if I say I feel "faint" or need medication?

How many passengers do you think would stay on teh plane for 11 hours, given a chance to get off?

Lots of people. I see people play victim to get free tickets pretty often.

I would make "my chance".

You are either willing to stay or you aren't. If you are not, then get off. They call security...fine. You think I have never dealt with security? Big deal.

I have never even had a traffic ticket in my whole life...not arrested..not fined..nor sued. But I dare say I am smart enough and advocate for myself well enough not to sit on a plane for 11 hours. I feel sorry for people who can't fathom getting off the plane and wonder how you stay alive out there.

You do not need to just do what everyone tells you all the time. You only have rights when you take them sometimes.

I think you and a lot of others would be in for a rude awakening.

I think most people live in fear of some big authority. I have not had any rude awakenings of this nature. I found the opposite is true, that if you don't allow yourself to be herded around and told what to do, they just give you your way and return the focus to the more compliant individuals, who are unwilling to stick up for themselves.

Like when TSA said they wouldn't "release" my son at JFK because the name on the paperwork was Grandpa instead of Grandma. We laughed and said okay, fine, what are you going to do, take him home with you? This is not rocket science.

People have rights, they just forget to use them. You may not always get what you want, but, it beats waiting around for someone (especially government) to fix it.

ditto. I would not have been herded into the Astrodome either, btw.

 

[OHGoDive]

If they can't keep their equipment operational in a storm, then should they be allowed to board people in a storm?

The slide would be a last resort. Buses, moving stairways, blankets.

I don't think the ground equipment belongs to the airlines. Again, in hindsight, they probably didn't have any reason to believe that it wouldn't be available when they needed it. When they found out it wasn't available, it was too late to undo what they'd done earlier.

It's the buses and stairs and such that weren't available, due to conditions. We're not talking just a dusting of snow here.

 

[Mossman]

I am willing to bet you I could get off that plane with very little fuss.

You are either willing to stay or you aren't. If you are not, then get off. They call security...fine. You think I have never dealt with security? Big deal.

I have never even had a traffic ticket in my whole life...not arrested..not fined..nor sued.

So you speak from a position having never been handcuffed behind your back so tightly that the metal digs into your wrist and made to sit like that for hours in the backseat of a car? That's only the beginning of an adventurous night. Holding cells don't have toilet seats and there's someone sitting next to the toilet. You'll get a phone call but it's during a snowstorm. How soon will someone be able to bail you out? It will make you really wish you were back on the comfortable plane.

Hopefully you'll get off as a first offender with a fine and some "community service". Picking up trash is far better than weed whacking if you're averse to blisters. The fine won't be too bad, but it will take a lawyer to get you off with the light punishment and that will run you several thousand at least. In the worst case scenario they might want to make an example out of you in these zero-tolerant days of terrorism and ship you off to Guantanamo for indefinite confinement as a suspected Al-Qaeda operative and you'll never be heard from again. Why chance it?

 

[truck1]

As I understand it, by the time the airline realized that they needed to get people off of the plane, the equipment to facilitate that was not operational. It was frozen.

So, rather than deploy emergency slides and push men, women and children to the tarmac in horrendous weather conditions, they had to wait until they had the ability to get them back indoors safely.

People are acting like they put them out there and left them as some sort of science experiment. It's not quite that simple.

The conditions were pretty harsh. There were planes at gates. The planes that weren't couldn't move or be moved safely.

My guess is that there were probably dozens of decisions that were made by many different people and organizations, any one of which, in hindsight, could have avoided or alleviated the problem.

Which is another good reason why legislation isn't going to prevent it. It's going to happen again if conditions or the stars align, deal with it.

Like Catherine said, if you don't want to stay on the plane, get off. Figure it out.

I agree with everyhing in this post except 1 thing.How safe and this is the key word safe would it be to get off of a plane in at or near blizzard conditions or even harsh conditions and walk to a terminal?What happens if the plane you were just on or a plane around is told to move and you are too close to one of those giant air vacuums under the wings?Or worse you cant make it to the terminal or back to the plane?If the planes cant move to get you in the air or even to the gate,how is help going to get to you?
This is an unfortunate set of circumstances and chances are its going to happen again when the moon the sun and stars line up again and another perfect storm hits an area.
In the end the airlines did the only thing available to them.They kept there passengers safe from the weather.Was it uncomfortable and inconvienent among other things?I am sure it was.But as far as I know,no one died from not making there destination.

 

[Cacia]

So you speak from a position having never been handcuffed behind your back so tightly that the metal digs into your wrist and made to sit like that for hours in the backseat of a car? That's only the beginning of an adventurous night. Holding cells don't have toilet seats and there's someone sitting next to the toilet. You'll get a phone call but it's during a snowstorm. How soon will someone be able to bail you out? It will make you really wish you were back on the comfortable plane.

Hopefully you'll get off as a first offender with a fine and some "community service". Picking up trash is far better than weed whacking if you're averse to blisters. The fine won't be too bad, but it will take a lawyer to get you off with the light punishment and that will run you several thousand at least. In the worst case scenario they might want to make an example out of you in these zero-tolerant days of terrorism and ship you off to Guantanamo for indefinite confinement as a suspected Al-Qaeda operative and you'll never be heard from again. Why chance it?

Why chance it? Because I am smart enough to bet that would not happen.

You sound pretty paranoid. I am just not that afraid of authority. Send me to Guantanamo? you're kidding right? So how come these things haven't happened yet?

What frightens me is you people who hear some urban myth and live in fear of this. It's ridiculous.

I don't mean this the way it sounds, but I see why you need buddies...