Congress approved legislation Wednesday that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration for five years.
The legislation bars in-flight cellphone calls as well as the forcible removal of passengers. But perhaps more important is what is not in the bill. There are no new rules on airlines' fees for reservation changes or bags, and there is no move to privatize air traffic control.
Part of the bill requires the FAA to determine within a year the minimum distance between seats by studying how quickly people can safely evacuate different airplane configurations. Most airlines in the United States currently put 30 inches of space between rows in economy class, though some no-frills airlines like Spirit put only 28 inches between seats.
"If they come up with a minimum seat regulation, that minimum will mirror the minimum in the market today," said Samuel Engel, the senior vice president for aviation at the consulting group ICF. "So it won't make things better."
The legislation was already approved by the House last month, and the Senate passed it Wednesday by a vote of 93-6. The FAA has been operating without long-term authorization since 2017. Congress has granted a series of temporary extensions for the past year.
"A real five-year bill is vastly, vastly more stable than a series of extensions," Engel said. "It removes quite a bit of uncertainty about the shape of the law for the next five years." He added, "As long as you're in that series of extensions, important projects get put on hold."
As to any added protections for travelers, Engel said: "The things in the bill that look like wins for consumers are really just for show. What are the so-called consumer protections in the bill? They are: You can't talk on your cellphone. You can't do that anyway. You can't put your dog in the overhead. That's not a daily problem."
One section of the bill bars airlines from forcibly removing seated passengers if the flight is overbooked. But traveler advocates said that was a continuation of the status quo. "The provision that you can't be bumped once you're on an airplane has been the custom since the Dr. Dao incident, but now it's the law," said Paul Hudson, president of Flyers Rights, a passenger advocacy group.
He was referring to a situation in April 2017 when David Dao, a pulmonologist, was injured while being forcibly removed from an overbooked United Airlines flight, even though he had bought a ticket for the flight.
Flyers Rights was also one of the main advocates for getting the FAA to regulate economy seat size. But Hudson seemed concerned about the possible outcome of the study.
"There's a history with the FAA of delaying regulations, grandfathering regulations or granting waivers or exemptions," he said in an interview.
In Engel's view, Congress chose to punt on one major issue.
"Once again, the U.S. is declining to corporatize the FAA," he said, explaining that other countries have successfully privatized air traffic control. Those companies can then plan their finances over longer periods, making the air traffic control systems more stable and adaptable. "That's particularly disappointing because it really was a stated objective of the Trump administration."
Business on 10/04/2018