Sen. Franken Introduces New Bill To Protect Bumped Passengers On Flights

Recent video from a United Airlines flight showing a passenger being forcibly removed is the reason why Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn) helped introduced a new bill to prevent another incident like that from happening.

Sponsored by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), The Transparency, Improvements and Compensation to Keep Every Ticketholder Safe (TICKETS) Act, would guarantee a boarded passenger the right to fly, address compensation limits for ticket-holding travelers, improve transparency, review ticket over-selling practices and require flight crews seeking accommodations to provide more advanced notice.

“Like many Minnesotans, I was both concerned and disturbed when I saw the video of a man being forcibly dragged off a United Airlines flight,” said Sen. Franken. “I think it’s clear that United—and the airline industry in general—needs to improve their practices towards consumers. Airlines are raking in massive profits, often at the expense of travelers’ comfort and well-being. This common sense legislation would help prevent another of these incidents by guaranteeing a boarded passenger the right to fly. It would also boost compensation for passengers that are bumped from flights and address other serious issues with airline travel.”

The TICKETS Act:

1. Guarantees a boarded passenger has the right to fly. Prohibits airlines from preventing ticket-holding passengers from flying if they have already been approved by the gate attendant to clear the boarding area and board the plane, unless they present security or health risks.
2. Provides fair compensation to ticket-holding travelers. Eliminates the dollar amount ceiling for compensation that may be provided to a ticket-holder passenger who is involuntarily denied boarding.
3. Improves transparency. a) Requiring air carriers to specify on a passenger’s flight itinerary and receipt its policies regarding voluntary and involuntary denial of boarding procedures. b) Requiring those policies to be posted publicly at each gate at the airport.
4. Addresses problems associated with ticket over-selling. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to review ticket over-selling practices and consider whether the number of oversold tickets for a flight should be limited.
5. Required flight crews seeking accommodation to provide more advanced notice. Requires flight crews seeking accommodation to check in to a flight 60 minutes prior to departure.