For more information call 1-800-662-1859 or email Paul@Flyersrights.org or Andrew@Flyersrights.orgCONSUMER GROUP FILES LEGAL PETITION TO REINSTATE THE RECIPROCITY RULE

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2016 – FlyersRights.org,
the largest US based airline passenger group, has filed a formal
rulemaking petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
calling for a return to the reciprocity rule in time for the holiday
season.

Under the reciprocity rule, when a flight is
cancelled or excessively delayed, an airline must place the passenger on
the next available flight, regardless of airline, for no additional
charge.

This practice was largely abandoned after airline
deregulation in 1978. Since 2010, however, U.S. airlines were allowed to
merge into four big carriers, the number of flights has been reduced,
and load factors have reached historic highs of about 84%.

So
when a flight is cancelled, it now takes much longer to find an
alternative flight, and passengers are generally limited to the one
airline without paying a much higher price.

Paul Hudson, President of Flyersrights.org
and a member of the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee,
observed, “Several years of heightened computer outages have caused
thousands of flight delays, affecting millions of passengers. So the
American public badly needs the reciprocity rule back which worked
effectively for decades to minimize passenger delays and strandings.
The rule would increase the efficiency of the national air
transportation system by matching up empty seats on other airlines to
delayed or cancelled passengers at no net cost to the airline industry.”

“It
would also give airlines a needed incentive to improve reliability,
upgrade outdated computer systems and maintain proper reserves. As
those with good records would be financially rewarded and those with
poor records financially penalized, by having to pay for stranded
passengers’ transportation on other carriers.”

The DOT has the
authority to reinstate the reciprocity rule under its power to regulate
predatory and anticompetitive practices, and to act quickly by issuing
an emergency order.

Read the full text of the rule making petition and please leave a comment in support at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=DOT-OST-2016-0197

The petition is also posted on our website at https://flyersrights.org/petitions/petition.php?id=9.