Did Congress Just Change Airline Travel As We know It?

While most of you were enjoying a night out or catching up on sleep last weekend, Congress was making some middle of the night back door deals that could affect airline travel as we currently know it.

And I do literally mean the middle of the night!

At around 2:52 am on Saturday morning, Congress released a 1,200-page bill that will probably leave you with mixed feelings.

Part of me wants to reach out and choke a politician (note this is not a real threat, but a figurative one because I don’t need to go to jail). While the other part of me wants to start a slow soul clap.

So what are the good, the umm ok…, and the WTF parts of this bill? Let’s break it down:

The Good

Say Hello to Legroom

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will set new minimum requirements for seats on airplanes. This will mean standards for seat width and legroom.

Refund for Services

The airlines must refund passengers for services paid for, but not received. For example, if you pay for a premium seat but then all the sudden it’s not available, you are potentially eligible for a refund.

Pregnant Women First

Finally, pregnant women get to board early, but no measures for first class seating yet. Maybe Congress will add this measure in the next go round.

Deceptive Games Airlines Play

The deceptive games the airlines play just got a little harder. Under this new bill, regulators will determine if it’s unfair for the airlines to solely blame delays or cancellation on the weather if other factors are also involved. Hopefully, this will provide a lot more transparency into what’s really going on when traveling.

Umm, ok…

Stay Calm or Else

The next time you think about threatening an airline employee, think again. This bill will increase civil penalties for such acts of aggression, so stay calm, and out of jail.

No More Dragging

Remember when United Airlines passenger, David Dao, was dragged from his flight to make room for a United employee? Though it did make for some Basketball Wives type of visuals, don’t expect to see this happen again under the new bill.

Dogs on Planes

If I was bringing my beloved dog on a plane, there is no way I would consider putting a live animal in an overhead bin. For those of you who were perfectly fine with your four-legged buddy being in the overhead bin, this will no longer be legal. Trust me when I say, it may cause some travel complications, but it really is for the good.

The WTF

Airline Extra Fees

If you talk to anyone about flying these days, the extra airlines’ fees for seats, baggage, and air (just kidding on the last one, but don’t be shocked if it happens soon) is most likely their number one complaint.

Congress had an opportunity to be the American hero with this new bill. At one point there was a mandate calling for “reasonable and proportional baggage and change fees,” and then Congress simply deleted it as if it was an error.

I’m sure the airline industry is smoking cigars and drinking martinis over this win. But let’s be real, if you were getting over $4 billion in additional revenue from adding baggage and reservation change fees, you’d probably fight like crazy to make sure the government didn’t make any changes.

Shockingly, Southwest, who doesn’t even charge seating fees, also fought against this change because it would take away their competitive edge. I really hope voters remember this action when voting this November and show their annoyance via the polls.

Hurricane Florence and Travel Bill

I’m all for providing aid to those affected by hurricanes, especially Puerto Rico, as I still feel like they got a raw deal. That said, I’m hella confused why there is an allocation for $1.68 billion for Hurricane Florence disaster relief in this bill. I’m sure its part of one of those backdoor deals to get this bill out or maybe it’s because Florence is an amazing travel destination. Either way, it makes no logical sense to be in this bill.

Space Travel

Oh, and my favorite, the FAA is setting up an office to focus on future space travel. Really? Let’s be real, that’s not happening anytime soon, so why not provide money that will help those living in this century to have a safer and more enjoyable experience?

If you were in Congress what would you add to this bill or delete?

I know I would want to include a clause for more transparency in airline ticket pricing. The airlines know when comparing flights that you aren’t seeing the real deal and they are betting that you’ll just accept these extra charges. To me, this is one area that really needs to change, but until then, let’s see if this bill really passes on September 30^th or not.