Fliers get protection if airline goes bankrupt By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY Travelers worried about flying on airlines that could go bankrupt can=20 breathe a little easier.Congress just extended a provision that requires=20 airlines to accept passengers from a bankrupt rival when they share the=20 same route. Airlines are prohibited from charging more than $25 to provide= =20 transportation, no matter what the original ticket cost. The=20 consumer-protection measure was included in the $397.4 billion spending=20 package passed last week. Without action by Congress, it would have expired= =20 by May. The law, as interpreted by the Department of Transportation,=20 applies to passengers holding confirmed seats on a bankrupt or insolvent=20 airline regardless of whether they have paper or electronic tickets. They=20 are entitled to be flown on a competing airline as long as there's an empty= =20 seat on the same dates of travel. Displaced fliers have 60 days after their= =20 airline stops flying to exchange their ticket at another airline. The credit card industry favored extension. The rule gives passengers an=20 incentive to rebook on other airlines rather than use the option they've=20 always had, which is to call their credit card company to cancel their=20 ticket purchases and receive a refund. Some airlines, including Delta,=20 American and Northwest, opposed the extension. "The credit card companies=20 win, the consumer wins, and the airlines lose," says Terry Trippler, air=20 traveler advocate for CheapSeats .com. Congress' decision to extend the=20 provision comes at a time of unprecedented turmoil in the airline industry.= =20 United and US Airways are in bankruptcy reorganization. Most others are=20 losing money. The consumer-protection idea came after the Sept. 11 attacks.= =20 While granting airlines bailout funds, Congress was concerned about= failures. The provision got a critical test last year after Vanguard Airlines ceased= =20 operations. The DOT says there was "considerable confusion" among airlines= =20 about the law when they were flooded with displaced Vanguard passengers.=20 Some rivals flew passengers for free. Other airlines charged $100=20 ticket-change fees. Delta and American have gone to the U.S. Court of=20 Appeals to challenge the Transportation Department's authority to limit=20 fees to $25. When National Airlines failed last year, hundreds of Las Vegas= =20 passengers "were suddenly thrust upon Delta, overwhelming ticket counters,= =20 gate agents and crowding and delaying Delta flights carrying its regular=20 passengers," Delta says in court papers. "In such circumstances, carriers=20 have more than valid reasons for charging passengers at least their=20 standard fee for reticketing services" =97 $100. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.trotters.net TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************