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US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

(www.travelandtourworld.com)
663 points duxup | 3 comments | 24 Sep 25 12:30 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Zak ◴[24 Sep 25 14:54 UTC] No.45361273[source]▶
I've had four overnight delays on three transatlantic trips this year. Fortunately, EU passenger compensation rules applied to three of them; the airline must pay each delayed passenger 600€ or convince them to take a more compelling non-cash offer.

I'm not for heavily regulating non-safety details of how most industries do business, but I do think it's fair to demand the true price up front and compensation when the airline doesn't provide the service it sold for reasons within its control.

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baby ◴[24 Sep 25 19:51 UTC] No.45365176[source]▶
There was a year I made more money from flying than I spent, because I kept flying ryanair or easyjet and I kept getting massive delays (one was a 20h delay, in which I spent the night at the airport squatting some of the couches in a cafe in the terminal, because small delays kept being slowly pushed on us, and we also spent 2h waiting in the final plane for it to take off, no A/C and they refused to give us water threatening to call the cops on us if we did get water bottles ourselves, great experience!)
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sjs7007 ◴[24 Sep 25 22:56 UTC] No.45366897[source]▶
Could you share more context on the water bottle thing? That makes no sense to me.
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1. baby ◴[25 Sep 25 03:57 UTC] No.45369128{3}[source]▶
The next morning was really hot, they made us wait in the sun for an hour outside to board the plane, then again for an hour or two in the plane before it departed (even announcing at some point they would land in Manchester instead of London, that got some good reactions out of all of us stranded in Poland). Then in the plane there was no AC and some people were almost fainting, so I stood up and went to get water myself since they were telling people that they couldn't give us water until after we take off. They stopped me and said they would call the cops and they would arrest me wherever we would land if I tried to get water bottles myself. It was ryanair or easyjet, can't remember. can't blame them, they're truly shitty airlines
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2. brewdad ◴[25 Sep 25 18:41 UTC] No.45377048[source]▶
No airline wants passengers up and about while on the tarmac. Once they get clearance to move they need to get going almost immediately and can't move if passengers aren't seated.

That doesn't excuse the flight crew for not handing out water however. That's just a cheap airline being stingier than necessary.

3. smcin ◴[05 Oct 25 01:35 UTC] No.45478197[source]▶
The "making us wait in the sun for an hour outside to board the plane" is to game the EU limitations on how long the airline can make you wait on the tarmac:

- after 1hr delay, they must provide access to water/A/C/heat/lavatories. Also to medical assistance (if needed). - and after 5hrs on tarmac, passengers must be given the chance to leave the aircraft. - Exceptions: These rules do not apply if the delay is due to safety, security, or ATC reasons.

Making you wait outside on the tarmac before boarding is bad but skirts the regulations. They key clock time to watch is how long were you waiting after boarding the plane?

Probably also useful to reference your specific EU rights if they object.

If after 1+1hrs wait, passengers were going to faint unless they got water, that seems to be pushing "would need medical assistance".