SEATTLE — From cash refunds for canceled and delayed flights to better access to customer service agents, President Joe Biden signed a package of legislation that was partly inspired by a Seattle basketball teams epic journey home.
During Christmas break of 2022, Rainier Beach High School Basketball Coach Mike Bethea and his wife found themselves stranded in Las Vegas in care of 30 teenagers.
“My wife and I, we made sure we focused on making the kids as comfortable as possible. The airlines approach basically day after day was, you’re on your own, do what you have to do. Basically, we were on our own,’ Bethea said.
Stories of travelers stranded over the holidays were mirrored across the country as airlines experienced a cascade of cancelations that spanned days. Now, nearly 1.5 years later, lawmakers are touting new protections for travelers to make sure this scene isn’t repeated.
“I think that airlines are just going to have to realize that consumers - you can’t just capture them forever with bad policy - consumers have some rights here,” said US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).
Cantwell championed the bipartisan effort to increase consumer protections for airline travelers.
The bill was signed into law by the president on May 16.
Soon, airlines will be required to offer hassle-free refunds if a domestic flight is delayed more than three hours. Airlines won't be able to charge fees for families to sit together, and they must improve communication with customers with travel plans go south.
“Well, I think that the market got distorted with some of these tactics, which airlines basically had too much power over the consumer where they’re going to charge families to sit together, where there basically going to hold you hostage after a flight is canceled – you have to have good communications and I think, in this, case consumers are going to deserve a refund after a significant delay,” Cantwell said.
For Coach Bethea it’s the official end to a holiday season neither he or his players will ever forget.
“They missed Christmas, but we made the best of it,” he said.
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