Airlines could no longer remove passengers who are seated on oversold planes, under a House bill introduced Wednesday.
And the Transportation Department would also have to clarify compensation for passengers who are denied boarding on flights, under the bill from Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
Bumping drew the spotlight in April, when United Airlines asked Chicago officers to remove a passenger from a full flight to make room for crew members.
United and the Chicago aviation department apologized, and passenger David Dao reached a settlement with the airline. But video of the incident sparked a debate among travelers and airlines about how denial of boarding, which averaged less than one passenger out of every 10,000 flown by the dozen largest airlines last year.
Major airlines voluntarily agreed not to ask officers to remove passengers for reasons other than safety or security. Several airlines also dramatically raised the amount they would offer passengers on overbooked flights, to encourage them to take a later flight.
Shuster's bill asks the Transportation Department to develop regulations clarifying that there is no maximum penalty for when an airline could pay a passenger who is bumped involuntarily, and that passengers don’t have to ask to be compensated under those circumstances.
“It’s safeguards for passengers,” Shuster said.
Shuster, the head of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, included consumer protections that he declined to call a “passenger bill of rights” in his legislation governing the Federal Aviation Administration. A major part of the bill aims to shift air-traffic control from the FAA to a non-profit corporation.
The committee will be voting on the bill June 27, and it must still be considered by the full House and Senate.