In response to consumer complaints about being stranded in airplanes for hours, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued new rules to "enhance airline passenger protections" in the following ways:

By requiring air carriers to adopt contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays and to publish those plans on their websites.

By requiring air carriers to respond to consumer problems.

By deeming continued delays on a flight that is chronically late to be unfair and deceptive in violation of 49 U.S.C. §41712.

By requiring air carriers to publish information on flight delays on their websites.

By requiring air carriers to adopt customer service plans, to publish those plans on their websites, and audit their own compliance with their plans.

This goes back to November 15, 2007 when the Department of Transportation issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that "called for comment on seven tentative proposals intended to ameliorate difficulties that passengers experience without creating undue burdens for the carriers."

[The DOT] received approximately 200 comments in response to the ANPRM. Of these, 13 came from members of the industry-i.e., air carriers, air carrier associations, and other industry trade associations-and the rest came from consumers, consumer associations, and two U.S. Senators. In general, consumers and consumer associations maintained that the Department's proposals did not go far enough, while carriers and carrier associations attributed the current problems mostly to factors beyond their control such as weather and the air traffic control system and tended to characterize the proposals as unnecessary and unduly burdensome. The travel agency associations generally expressed support for consumer protections.

As a result of the input received, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was issued on December 8, 2008, which resulted in just 21 comments:

...10 comments were from members of the industry and the rest came from consumers and consumer associations. On the consumer side, eight individuals filed comments as did three consumer advocacy organizations: Flyersrights.org (formerly the "Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights" or CAPBOR), the Aviation Consumer Action Project (ACAP) and the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups (U.S. PIRG). Of the industry commenters, two carriers (US Airways and ExpressJet Airways), and two airport authorities (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and The City of Atlanta Department of Aviation) filed comments. Three industry associations filed comments: the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), and the Regional Airline Association (RAA). Two travel agency associations, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA), also filed comments, as did the Airports Council International, North America (ACI-NA).

The DOT stirred all this together, and posted the final rule on 21 December 2009. The air carrier contingency plans require "that each plan include, at a minimum, the following:"

(1) an assurance that, for domestic flights, the air carrier will not permit an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours unless the pilot-in-command determines there is a safety-related or security-related impediment to deplaning passengers (e.g. weather, air traffic control, a directive from an appropriate government agency, etc.), or Air Traffic Control advises the pilot-in-command that returning to the gate or permitting passengers to disembark elsewhere would significantly disrupt airport operations;

(2) for international flights that depart from or arrive at a U.S. airport, an assurance that the air carrier will not permit an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than a set number of hours, as determined by the carrier in its plan, before allowing passengers to deplane, unless the pilot-in-command determines there is a safety-related or security-related reason precluding the aircraft from doing so, or Air Traffic Control advises the pilot-in-command that returning to the gate or permitting passengers to disembark elsewhere would significantly disrupt airport operations;

(3) for all flights, an assurance that the air carrier will provide adequate food and potable water no later than two hours after the aircraft leaves the gate (in the case of a departure) or touches down (in the case of an arrival) if the aircraft remains on the tarmac, unless the pilot-in-command determines that safety or security requirements preclude such service;

(4) for all flights, an assurance of operable lavatory facilities, as well as adequate medical attention if needed, while the aircraft remains on the tarmac;

(5) an assurance of sufficient resources to implement the plan; and

(6) an assurance that the plan has been coordinated with airport authorities at all medium and large hub airports that the carrier serves, including medium and large hub diversion airports.

Failure to do any of the above would be considered an unfair and deceptive practice within the meaning of 49 U.S.C. §41712 and subject to enforcement action, which could result in an order to cease and desist as well as the imposition of civil penalties.

This rule is not without problems from the air passenger's point of view (see DOT Mandates Passenger Bill of Rights and I’m Not Happy by Cranky Flyer), but I maintain my previous position: the airlines brought this on themselves. They did so by failing to step up to the core issues being raised by irate passengers. The airlines defended overflowing toilets, bad air, and hungry and thirsty passengers by declaring that it was not their fault: they couldn't control the weather.

Well, of course they could not control the weather. They could, however, actively manage the effects of long, weather-induced flight delays in a way that their customers could understand and relate to. "The airlines" didn't do that quickly in at least some highly publicized cases. I think the result was entirely predictable.

That's right, comedian Mark Malkoff is living on an AirTran Airways plane for the month of June. He'll use AirTran Airways’ new Wi-Fi service to blog about his experience from 35,000 feet.

Malkoff plans to stay on the plane for 30 days straight as he attempts to break a Guinness Book of World Records continuous flight record. He’ll fly to up to 12 cities each day and at night sleep on board the plane at its hub in Atlanta.

Crazy? See for yourself at http://www.markonairtran.com/. You can also follow him on Twitter as @mmalkoff.

My aviation website pick of the week from Episode 49 of the Airplane Geeks podcast:

Well, someone had to do it and it looks like it's going to be AirTran Airways. They announced May 12, 2009 that they will be the first major airline to offer passengers wireless broadband Internet access on every flight.

AirTran Airways is partnering with Aircell, the leader in airborne communications for business and commercial aviation, to offer passengers full inflight Internet service across its entire fleet of Boeing 737 and 717 aircraft. All 136 AirTran Airways jets will be fully outfitted with Gogo® Inflight Internet service by mid-summer.

This is a big deal.  In my opinion, the ultimate form of inflight entertainment is where you are in control of the content. What better way to take control of your content than to base it around what you can do with the Internet.

Airline branding expert, author of the outstanding Simpliflying blog, and previous Airplane Geeks Podcast guest Shashank Nigam has created an interesting little contest. Winners receive autographed copies of the book on Singapore Airlines, “Flying High in a Competitive Industry: Secrets of the World’s Leading Airline” and there is also an a 4GB Apple iPod shuffle to be had.

There are two ways to enter the drawing: You can follow @simpliflying on Twitter and tweet quotes from articles published on SimpliFlying, or you can subscribe to SimpliFlying updates and leave a comment on an article published from now till May 15, 2009.

Shashank produces interesting content, so it's worth following his activities anyway. Find more contest information at Announcing, SimpliFlying’s first Tweepitition!

Well, tell AirTran, anyway.

"We'd like to know what our passengers want; whether it's Jacuzzis, foosball tables or live music, we want to hear from you," said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing and sales for AirTran Airways. "We encourage all our customers to keep those creative suggestions coming until the big reveal in May."

When airline alliances are created, or when new members are added, government anti-trust regulators must first give their approval.  In the past, this approval came without an "expiration date," but there are forces circling to change that.

U.S. Representative James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, proposes in H.R. 831 to set a three year limit on immunity, after which the alliance would have to be reviewed. Predictably, the airlines are not thrilled with this idea.

The Air Transport Association of America (the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines) has come out with it's position in a recent press release:
According to Finance and Commerce in U.S. airlines ‘whining’ about antitrust immunity, Oberstar is not having any of it:

If anyone knows about airline branding, it's Shashank Nigam over at the SimpliFlying blog. Shashank's discussions and interviews have depth and include sound commentary that airlines would be good to consider.

Shashank is starting a series of airline branding webinars, starting 8 Jan 2009 with “Airlines 2.0: Using technology for innovative branding through the recession.”

In this webinar, you will learn how you can:

• Get closer to the customer, by using technology innovatively
• Interact without interrupting the customer, through seamless integration into their lifestyles
• Co-create with your customers, by involving them in the product and service design process
• Add a personality to the airline brand through blogging
• Determine ROI easily from these efforts

The webinar will include eye-opening case studies from leading airlines like JetBlue, Virgin America, Southwest, AirFrance-KLM, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and more.

Registration is free.

Shashank Nigam is a leading airline brand strategist and a well respected speaker and columnist on the topic.

The Air Transport Association says that airline capacity is down 9% and expected traveler volumes is down by the same amount.

The ATA... is forecasting a 9 percent year-over-year decrease in the number of passengers who will travel globally on U.S. airlines during the 21-day winter holiday travel season (spanning Thurs., Dec. 18, 2008, through Wed., Jan. 7, 2009). The number of available seats has declined 9 percent from the same period a year ago, resulting in full or near-full flights throughout the holiday.

The busiest days are expected to be Friday, December 19 and Saturday, December 27. As he did last year, President Bush says he'll open up some military restricted airspace that will help ease congestion somewhat.

The ATA offers these travel tips:

· Pack any gifts unwrapped, as they may need to be inspected by security.

· Use automated check-in options, offered via airline Web sites and at airport kiosks, up to 24 hours before departure.

· Sign up with your airline to receive automated travel notifications delivered to your cell phone or wireless device; in the event of system delays, airlines will keep travelers informed of flight and schedule changes. Passengers can also check on the latest airport delays via the FAA Web site.

· Travel with an unexpired government-issued photo identification.

· Allow plenty of time for checking in and for security screening at the airport. If traveling on the busiest days, plan for longer-than-usual security lines. And remember that families and individuals traveling with medically necessary liquids this holiday season can take advantage of specially-designated Transportation Security Administration (TSA) family lanes.

· Familiarize yourself with the latest TSA 3-1-1 security program rules at www.tsa.gov, and with the list of TSA permitted and prohibited items.

· At the security checkpoint, place metallic objects (including keys, coins, pens, cell phone, watch, camera) in carry-on baggage. Plan to carry small electronics and spare batteries with you. Check DOT restrictions against packing batteries in checked luggage before getting to the airport.

· Tag each bag, inside and out, with traveler name and contact information, and remove all destination baggage tags from previous trips.

Since many airlines don't do a real good job of feeding you on flights, you often have to fend for yourself. One option is from a company called GoPicnic where you can purchase boxed meals online and take them with you. They offer light Break Meals, snackbox Go Meals, MightyMunch Kids Meals, and substantial Picnic Meals. Here's what they say about themselves:

GoPicnic's founders developed the concept of the shelf-stable picnic meal in 2004 for a major US airline whose existing buy-on-board fresh food service program was costing it millions of dollars annually due to high levels of waste from unused meals as well as incremental personnel expenses stemming from the need for in-flight food preparation. The shelf-stable snackbox solution that the GoPicnic founders created to address these issues generated profit for the airline for the first time in its food service history and provided customers with a reliable quality product at a good value. Recognizing the many benefits such shelf-stable "picnic" meal programs could bring to a wide array of other industries, the GoPicnic founders expanded on the original concept, making nutritious high-quality shelf-stable meal solutions available to new markets and clients.

I think it's a great idea. Check them out and if you buy any of these meals, give us your thoughts by posting a comment.