This Airline Lobbying Group Wants to Ruin Your Flight

Enjoying the end to regulations?

Take a flight in the next year and get back to us.

As noted by the Wall Street Journal (via God Save the Points), the U.S. airline lobbying group Airlines for America has been making some seriously damaging requests to the Department of Transportation regarding current travel regulations.

Among the asks by the AFA:

An end to full-refund cancellations done within 24 hours of ticket purchase
The dissolution of the tarmac rule, which gives passengers rights when stranded on the ground for hours
No payments or vouchers for bumped passengers

There’s a lot more (regarding ticket prices and such), and God Save the Points is correct in calling all of this behavior “shameful,” noting “these airlines are literally fighting to no longer be obligated to serve water on flights where passengers are stuck in a metal tube on the ground — for countless hours.”

Of course, an industry group is going to want to make things better for themselves — that’s the role of lobbyists, for better or worse. But look at the AFA’s mission statement: “We work collaboratively with airlines, labor, Congress and the Administration to improve air travel for everyone.”

Note that “customers” and “passengers” aren’t a priority.

So happy trails. And BYO water to tide you over during your next six-hour delay.

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Kirk Miller

Kirk Miller is InsideHook’s Senior Lifestyle Editor (and longest-serving resident). He writes a lot about whisk(e)y, cocktails, consumer goods and artificial intelligence.