Half of US air passengers feel mistreated by airlines

According to a recent survey conducted by AirHelp, a passenger rights company, almost half of US air passengers feel mistreated by airlines – and with the new FAA reauthorization bill, consumers are still left hoping for better treatment and service in the future.

As the U.S. continues to fall behind the rest of the world for passenger rights, Christian Nielsen, Chief Legal Officer at AirHelp, is eager to weigh in on the conversation, and believes these changes are still not strong enough. Below is a statement from Christian outlining his perspective:

“The new regulations mandated within the FAA reauthorization bill is a step in the right direction for U.S. air passengers, but it’s not enough. Although the proposed bill would protect travelers from being kicked off of a flight after they’ve cleared the boarding gate, and would require airlines to refund passengers for services they paid for but did not receive, the power would still remain in the hands of airlines rather than travelers. Airlines are seeing increasing profits by charging for ticket changes and baggage fees, which many airlines just increased by 20%. The U.S. government needs to better protect travelers’ rights by controlling these fees. The U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world for passenger rights, and now is the time for Congress to take a stand to enact government-mandated price controls to prohibit airlines from unreasonable fees and mistreatment of customers.

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Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1979), beginning as a travel agent up through today as a publisher of eTurboNews (eTN), one of the world’s most influential and most-read travel and tourism publications. He is also Chairman of ICTP. His experiences include working and collaborating with various national tourism offices and non-governmental organizations, as well as private and non-profit organizations, and in planning, implementing, and quality control of a range of travel and tourism-related activities and programs, including tourism policies and legislation. His major strengths include a vast knowledge of travel and tourism from the point of view of a successful private enterprise owner, superb networking skills, strong leadership, excellent communication skills, strong team player, attention to detail, dutiful respect for compliance in all regulated environments, and advisory skills in both political and non-political arenas with respect to tourism programs, policies, and legislation. He has a thorough knowledge of current industry practices and trends and is a computer and Internet junkie.