ADMINISTRATION OPPOSES EVEN AIRLINE BILL OF RIGHTS

[Don Davis]

In response to the “JetBlue incident” this week, where hundreds of passengers were stranded aboard planes for up to 10 hours, Congressional Democrats plan to introduce an airline passenger bill of rights. However, the Bush Administration has strongly condemned any such law.

* * *
AG Gonzales questioned the need for the legislation, stating that the one mini-bag of peanuts and can of Diet Sprite allotted by JetBlue to each passenger was more than the typical Guantanamo detainee receives in a week.

* * *
Congressional Republicans also oppose the bill on the grounds that it sends the wrong message to Islamic radicals. House Minority Leader John Boehner claimed that “if the terrorists think our citizens can’t sit still in claustrophobic conditions for half-a-day, they’ll just assume we’re not prepared to stay in Iraq for half-a-Century.”

CONTINUED at: http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=622

[oldtimecanuk]

1. These people are so delusional... Trust them to come up with..

some way to shut down what would amount to a great bill, however it puts responsibility on a Company so we can't have that.

ww

[Downtown Hound]

2. Bush is opposed to rights in any form. n/t

[napi21]

3. I gotta give the Pubs credit for creativity! I expected them to

object to that bill because it would put an undue burdon on the Company, but "wrong message to the terrorists?????

I can only HOPE that all people who fly, and especially frequent flyers, willcreate a storm in Washington and DEMAND this bill be passed!

On several other posts about the insane length of time Jet Blue and some other planes were simply ignored, Ihave admitted that if I had been on any of those planes,I would have been typing this message from a prison cell. It still surprises me that fighting & physical asault didn't break out after that length of time!

[kansasblue]

4. it is ....

sarcasm......

[TerdlowSmedley]

5. What's so surprising? By all appearances they don't even believe in the

Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

[aquart]

6. I can see the ad: what the Republicans have done for/to Americans.

Made healthcare unaffordable and unaccountable.

Killed the airline Bill of Rights that would have prevented more Jet Blue incidents.

Encouraged the growth and recruitment of terrorist organizations by starting wars of aggression in the MidEast.

Encouraged Americans jobs to go overseas.

Multiplied the national debt beyond counting.

Decreased the value of the dollar.

Diminished American authority as a moral force in the world.

Diminished American authority as a military force in the world.

Hey, add your own, this list could just scroll by, day in, day out. Each ad would pick up at a different point where another had left off, encouraging the sense of endlessness.

[Nashyra]

7. Airline Employee

as an airline employee for over 30 years it amazes me how dumb the companies can be. It also amazes me how much people think they know and don't have a clue. Rule of thumb if you can get back to the gate then by all means return, sometimes it is just not possible. What do folks driving on a turnpike who get stuck in their cars behind in a bad accident have to do. In most cases you are stuck for hours and no one gives you any money back. When it comes to weather related issues there is always going to be the worst case, I remember being stuck on the taramack in Shreveport for 7 hours with no where to go because Dallas was shut down for tornadoes and the like. There was about 30 aircraft sitting around in the same situation and there was not enough fuel because of all the planes who made emergency landings in Shreveport.

My husband, the captain eventually worked out a deal with some of the ground guys to go buy us all pizza on his credit card. We had one mutiny, a woman who we cut off because she was drunk. She popped a slide in the front galley(this was before 911), they took her off, arrested her and had to remove 50 passengers as there was no where to have the slide fixed and for a full load you have to have all doors operative. They removed the slide from the container, we eventually left. Who were the 50 folks going to sue? There were no gates available for our aircraft. There was no security to let the folks off and re check them in. We used to return to the gate, let people off and tell them to stay in the area of course you know we always went out with empty seats because ATC tels you when to go and if you miss your window of opportunity then you go to the end of the line and bam another 2-3 hours on the runway. Do you go back to the gate again?

Weather related issues are very hard to deal with, if you have aircraft backing off gates and reports of clearing then the aircraft takes the chance and gets stuck, if you stay you cancel? Mechanical difficulties are a whole different issue. Bring the folks to the gate and get them off asap. People are getting what they want to pay for. There are not service related items on the aircraft anymore because they don't serve food. Fining the companies and putting time constraints on the airline workers will not help because bottom line is it will raise your prices, cut our pay and the guys in charge don't feel a thing. When something happens like what happened at Jet Blue it should come out of the pocket of the CEO's bonus and go into a recovery fund for passengers, only thing about that is the CEO of Jet blue is one of the lowest paid CEO's trying to offer airfare at the lowest price possible while paying his workers a middle class wage.

For what it's worth when folks talk about the "company" to me it means me and my co-workers, we are the company, it's management, ATC, Airport operations etc that need to be responsible. Believe me the "company" does not want all those irate passengers pissed off at them. The Captain unfortunately in this day and age is usually the last one to know, he only knows what they tell him and usually it's "roger we will get back to you" There is no Captain I know that does not relay the information he has at hand to the crew and passengers. If your not hearing anything it's because there is nothing to know or the news will only start a riot.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. It's satire, guys.

Sad thing is that nowdays it's hard to tell.