Kate update

Many of you have asked me how Kate Hanni’s fight for a Passengers Bill of Rights is going. As you know, Kate was one of several people who testified in a Senate hearing yesterday, and the mainstream media coverage of her cause was pretty positive.

I care about how Kate does — and I believe you do, too — because she actually represents airline passengers. The other folks testifying yesterday didn’t have our interests at heart. They spoke on behalf of the airline industry or large corporations. But not for us.

“For the last eight years and longer, the airlines have had the opportunity to make good on their promises to improve customer service and ensure basic rights for passengers,” she told the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. “It’s time for Congress to ensure that airlines make passengers their top priority.”

Based on the accounts that I’ve read and several conversations with Kate, I would say that the Senators recognized that she was the lone voice for the consumer.

One of the most interesting aspects of her testimony was the rebuttal of an often-heard statistic by airline apologists, that runway imprisonment incidents are relatively rare. Her coalition has found that airline and government agencies “intentionally fail to maintain statistics” for flights that never reach their destinations. “So, if an airplane leaves the gate but never takes off, neither the airlines nor the government keep statistics about those flights – they’re just a single flight cancellation in the government’s book,” she said.

Kate’s cause goes to Congress next week.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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