Airlines to be fined in NY for neglecting passengers

Air travellers in New York state had something to celebrate on the New Year day as a new law was introduced to penalise the airlines if they failed to provide adequate services to passengers stuck on the airport tarmac.

The law "" first of its kind in the United States "" would obligate airlines operating in the state to provide water, snacks, fresh air and working toilet facilities to the passengers stuck on tarmac in a plane for more than three hours.

But it does not obligate the carrier to take passengers off the plane as "deplanements" are not within the jurisdiction of the state.

It would also require the air carrier to explain to the stranded passengers their rights and way to file a complaint. The carriers found violating the law could be fined $1,000 per passenger.

The law also provides for setting up an Office of Airline Consumer Advocate within the Consumer Protection Board. The advocate would refer any violations to the state attorney general's office, which can seek civil penalties.

The law has stood the test of judicial review. A federal judge in Albany, capital of New York State, has already rejected the challenge mounted by the Air Transport Association, an airline industry group, and that could encourage other states to write similar law.

The lawmakers wrote the law following a series of lengthy delays during which passengers were confined in planes for several hours in some cases without food, water and with overflowing toilets.

The incidents generally occurred when planes were diverted because of weather conditions from other airports.

The air transport industry says that the law is unnecessary as such incidents are a very rare occurrence.

Besides, the Air Transport Association says that the industry should be regulated by the federal government and not individual States.

But, Democratic Assemblyman Michael N Gianaris, who was of the main sponsors of the law, expressed the hope that passengers' rights movement would spread until "we have a national standard to protect consumers throughout the country."