Here's what happened: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a motion for cloture—Senate-speak for shut-up and stay on topic—which requires a supermajority of 60 votes for approval. Without cloture, Senators can yack forever like a bunch of riled-up monkeys. The vote on cloture failed 49-42, empowering Republicans to filibuster our beautiful piece of legislation into the ground.

What protections have Senate Republicans stolen from you? Let's look at Senator Rockefeller's (D-WV) substitute amendment sporting the new, improved Passenger's Bill of Rights:

TITLE IV—AIRLINE SERVICE AND SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 401. AIRLINE CONTINGENCY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 417 is amended by adding at the end the following:

SUBCHAPTER IV—AIRLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE ``§.41781. AIRLINE CONTINGENCY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2008, each air carrier shall submit a contingency service plan to the Secretary of Transportation for review and approval. The plan shall require the air carrier to implement, at a minimum, the following practices:

(1) PROVISION OF FOOD AND WATER.—If the departure of a flight of an air carrier is substantially delayed, or disembarkation of passengers on an arriving flight that has landed is substantially delayed, the air carrier shall provide—

(A) adequate food and potable water to passengers on such flight during such delay; and

(B) adequate restroom facilities to passengers on such flight during such delay.

(2) RIGHT TO DEPLANE.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier shall develop a plan, that incorporates medical considerations, to ensure that passengers are provided a clear timeframe under which they will be permitted to deplane a delayed aircraft. The air carrier shall provide a copy of the plan to the Secretary of Transportation, who shall make the plan available to the public. In the absence of such a plan, except as provided in subparagraph (B), if more than 3 hours after passengers have boarded a flight, the aircraft doors are closed and the aircraft has not departed, the air carrier shall provide passengers with the option to deplane safely before the departure of such aircraft. Such option shall be provided to passengers not less often than once during each 3-hour period that the plane remains on the ground.

(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply—

(i) if the pilot of such flight reasonably determines that such flight will depart not later than 30 minutes after the 3 hour delay; or

(ii) if the pilot of such flight reasonably determines that permitting a passenger to deplane would jeopardize passenger safety or security.

(C) APPLICATION TO DIVERTED FLIGHTS.—This section applies to aircraft without regard to whether they have been diverted to an airport other than the original destination.

(b) POSTING CONSUMER RIGHTS ON WEBSITE.—An air carrier holding a certificate issued under section 41102 that conducts scheduled passenger air transportation shall publish conspicuously and update monthly on the Internet website of the air carrier a statement of the air carrier's customer service policy and of air carrier customers' consumer rights under Federal and State law.

(c) REVIEW AND APPROVAL; MINIMUM STANDARDS.—The Secretary of Transportation shall review the contingency service plan submitted by an air carrier under subsection (a) and may approve it or disapprove it and return it to the carrier for modification and resubmittal. The Secretary may establish minimum standards for such plans and require air carriers to meet those standards.

(d) AIR CARRIER.—In this section the term `air carrier' means an air carrier holding a certificate issued under section 41102 that conducts scheduled passenger air transportation.''.

(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall promulgate such regulations as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a).

So what's different from the old versions?

• Compliance: Airlines now have 60 days, not 90 days, to get their act together and slap together a contingency plan;
• Advertising: Congress wants this Bill of Rights placed "conspicuously" on each arline's website. No burying the Bill of Rights in a site index;
• Not Just For Departures: The substitute amendment now covers delayed arrivals.

We're not wild about the absence of civil penalties, or empowering pilots to stall if they "reasonably determine" that take-off is less than 30 minutes away. As compensation for these losses, Senator Rockefeller tossed in this gem of a sweetener:

SEC. 402. PUBLICATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE DATA AND FLIGHT DELAY HISTORY.

Section 41722 is amended by adding at the end the following:

(f) CHRONICALLY DELAYED FLIGHTS.—

(1) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF FLIGHTS.—An air carrier holding a certificate issued under section 41102 that conducts scheduled passenger air transportation shall publish and update monthly on the Internet website of the air carrier, or provide on request, a list of chronically delayed flights operated by the air carrier.

(2) DISCLOSURE TO CUSTOMERS WHEN PURCHASING TICKETS.—An air carrier shall disclose the following information prominently to an individual before that individual books transportation on the air carrier's Internet website for any flight for which data is reported to the Department of Transportation under part 234 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, and for which the air carrier has primary responsibility for inventory control:

(A) The on-time performance for the flight if it is a chronically delayed flight.

(B) The cancellation rate for the flight if it is a chronically canceled flight.

(3) CHRONICALLY DELAYED; CHRONICALLY CANCELED.—The Secretary of Transportation shall define the terms `chronically delayed flight' and `chronically canceled flight' for purposes of this subsection.''.

If an flight is chronically late, not only must the airline broadcast their shame on their website, but they must also warn travelers before selling tickets that their flight will likely be delayed.

The Passenger's Bill of Rights was tacked onto a much larger bill reauthorizing the FAA. Members of Congress could rip out the Bill of Rights and and pass it separately, but the Congressional calendar crowds up before elections, and our important little bill has little hope of standing out.

Like a Price Is Right Danger Price loser, we don't get the contingency plans; we don't get the food or water; and we don't get the chronically delayed flight notifications. We get nothing. Thanks, Senate Republicans!

Air safety, passenger rights bill hits dead end in Senate [AP]
On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Rockefeller Amdt. No. 4627 (Subst.) to H.R. 2881 ) [U.S. Senate]
(Photo: Getty)

The best practices we identified during our review are not all inclusive, and the airlines or airports should consider incorporating them into their ongoing operations, especially the best practice of setting the maximum amount of time that passengers will remain on-board aircraft before deplaning.

The report contains a series of common-sense suggestions that will undoubtedly infuriate airlines. Among the suggestions: cancel flights ahead of blizzards, change the schedules of flights that depart or arrive late more than 40% of the time, and abandon gate departure time as the metric for on-time performance in favor of data that capture all instances of tarmac stranding.

Scovel stopped short of explicitly endorsing the Passenger's Bill of Rights, but it takes no giant leap of logic to realize that if deplaning is a best practice, then uniform implementation can be easily achieved by an act of Congress.

Congress took a small step in that direction last week with the House passage of the Passenger's Bill of Rights. A manager's amendment added previously absent deplaning conditions, though the language is mushy at best:

(2) CONTENTS- An emergency contingency plan submitted by an air carrier for an airport under subsection (a) shall contain a description of how the air carrier will—

(A) provide food, water that meets the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.), restroom facilities, cabin ventilation, and access to medical treatment for passengers onboard an aircraft at the airport that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal;

(B) allow passengers to deplane following excessive delays; and

(C) share facilities and make gates available at the airport in an emergency.

Actions Needed to Improve Airline Customer Service and Minimize Long, On-Board Delays [DOT Office Of The Inspector General]

• No plans for supplying emergency food and drink
• No time limit for how long passengers are kept on plane
• No plan of how to get passengers off

Will a Passenger's Bill of Rights force the issue?

US watchdog says airlines fall short on service [Reuters via Rick Seany]
(Photo: FlyGuy92586)

So passengers began drumming in unison on the overhead bins. The crew freaked out, one steward admonished them "for destroying airline property," and eventually the police were called, who boarded the plane and disembarked the passengers Continental had said were "becoming violent."

70 of the passengers later signed a petition which said:

We did not have water, food, toilet paper.. The toilets were clogged and completely unsanitary. Moreover, there were a number of children and older and special-needs passengers, including a diabetic and a pregnant woman, who desperately needed attention.

Right There on the Tarmac, the Inmates Revolt [NYT] (Thanks to Melinda!)
(Photo: FlyGuy92586)

On June 21st, I was on flight 6 from JFK to Buffalo departing at 5:20 and arriving in Buffalo at 7:12. We pushed back from the gate at exactly 5:20, and started our journey to the runway, as number 20 or so in line. At this point, the weather just got worse and worse, and eventually all flights north were suspended, with us being 2nd in line for take off, bummer."

From this point, I would say the captain was in contact with us almost every 15 minutes, as we were shuffled around the taxi ways of JFK. He was giving us constant weather updates, trying to find alternate routes to buffalo with the help of ATC, and refused to go back to the gate because our flight would then be canceled. After about 2 hours, they were kind enough to start the food and drink service, even though they were pretty much not allowed to.

All the while, the TV's were functioning, which was great. Finally, after 3 and a half hours on the taxi ways, we take off and get into Buffalo at about 10:30. 2 days later, without any asking, Jetblue emails me with a $100 refund in accordance with the Customer Bill of Rights

The captain of the flight was absolutely excellent, CONSTANT communication with us every step of the way, from the medical emergency in the plane behind us, to telling us that the engines burn 2 gallons of fuel per minute idling on the runways. Totally restored my faith and love for jetblue.

Even I was knocking them recently. I just felt that this was a great experience (other than the weather)..and hey, $100 back on a $170 flight isn't half bad.

Now that was jolly good of the captain, and very good of JetBlue for emailing the refund without even being asked. That's what we like to see, especially considering that the delays would've been due to the weather and most airlines only give refunds for non Force Majeur events.

(Photo: Star Trek)

A passenger, talking loudly into his cellphone, says, "I went out of my way to fly JetBlue," he said, "and instead I'm on some Express Jet. It's a bait and switch."

Yes, the oldest of sales schemes. Instead of the expansive Airbus 320 with legroom and TVs, JetBlue put its Dulles-to-Logan passengers on a Continental Express Jet, a flying partner. The switcheroo would have been a minor irritation given the brevity of the flight had the Express Jet not run low on fuel circling over Boston, forcing it to land at T.F. Green.

Here is what I experienced during what JetBlue's "Customer Bill of Rights" policy describes as an "Onboard Ground Delay."

She's seething on a JetBlue plane: Oh baby, she'll hate to go again [Boston Herald]
(Photo: JohnKit)

Last Saturday, a United Airlines flight sat at O'Hare International Airport for more than eight hours during an icy snowstorm. For entertainment, the passengers got to watch the plane get de-iced several times.

Fury over such incidents has prompted a new move in Congress to pass an airline passengers' bill of rights. Various versions would force airlines to let people off planes after a delay of three hours, make the airlines service delayed flights with food, water and clean toilets, and compensate passengers when the airlines fail to comply.

Stuck on a plane [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: striatic)

But as the guest blogger, I say hold on: Apologies are nice, but check out the fine print in the new policy (pdf), and all isn't as great as it seems at first glance:

• The policy promises that the airline won't keep you stuck in a plane for more than 5 hours, and that they'll pay amends for delays. But they'll ONLY pay if the cause of the delay is "due to a Controllable Irregularity." What's a controllable irregularity? They're not saying.

• There is only one way to get cold, hard cash from jetBlue: If they kick you off a flight because they overbooked. They'll pay you $1000. Great, right? JetBlue doesn't overbook. Now, that's a customer friendly policy, but the $1000 is a red herring. In all of 2006, only 126 jetBlue customers were ever denied boarding. So don't plan to make the rent by getting booted from a flight. It's a promise that sounds better than it really is.

• For all other delays, if the airline admits fault, your compensation is in the form of a voucher, not cash. Vouchers suck. Only around 10% of them ever get cashed. They're the moral equivalent of mail-in refunds, and around here, them's fightin' words.

So, yes, jetBlue apologized. Thanks for that. But don't believe the hype. — MARK ASHLEY

(Photo: Cybele May at Candy Blog)