Re-regulate the airlines? Heck, yes

Frequent flier programs
Airline loyalty programs have been referred to as unregulated lotteries. Personally, I think they’re the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the traveling public. Let’s regulate the lottery, at least. Maybe it’s time to require airlines to tell us how many miles are outstanding, how many award seats are available on a given flight, and how much our miles are worth. Oh, and award tickets should be free. (Otherwise they’re not “award” tickets, right? They’re just tickets.) Air carriers should be required to file their program member agreements with the government and to ask for its permission when they make a change to it. Better yet, we should abolish loyalty programs, because on balance, they hurt consumers.

Passenger compensation
In 2004, the European Union adopted tough new airline passenger rights regulations that required airlines to compensate air travelers when flights were delayed and canceled. Regulation 261 (PDF) isn’t without its problems (for example, it has a provision that lets airlines off the hook during “extraordinary” circumstances, which are not well-defined) but it goes much further than any current American regulations in ensuring delayed passengers are treated fairly. In addition to adopting a 261-like rule, the government should require that airlines ask for and receive approval to change their contracts of carriage — the legal agreement between them and their passengers. Gaping loopholes in the contract need to be closed, too. Among them: airlines need to compensate passengers for all of the property in a lost or damaged bag, not just a select few items.

Common sense
While we’re at it, the government should consider making a few tweaks to the way airlines do business. For example, airline tickets should be transferable. Changing the name on a ticket, particularly if you’ve made a typographical error, shouldn’t cost an extra cent. (After all, it doesn’t cost the airline anything to change an electronic ticket.) A change fee shouldn’t be more expensive than the ticket, either. What’s more, a ticket ought to represent an airline’s obligation to get you to your destination when it says it will — not when it gets around to it. I realize that common sense can’t always be legislated, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying. The Transportation Department should be given broader authority to stop some of these outrageous airline practices.

If you’ve made it this far in my deregulation diatribe, you’ve probably arrived at one of two conclusions. One, you think I’m a socialist. That’s fine. I’ve been called worse.

Or two, you’re wondering if it’s such a good idea for the government to get involved in the airline industry. That’s a reasonable response. To which I would say: No worse than if the government didn’t get involved.

It isn’t hard to imagine a future in which the few surviving airlines are virtual monopolies. It’s a world where fees and surcharges account for the bulk of your ticket price, where customers are never right, and in which you would do anything to avoid air travel.

Do you really want to go there?

Every Monday, my column takes a close look at what makes the travel business tick. Your comments are always welcome, and if you can’t get enough of my column, drop by my blog for daily insights into the world of travel.

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