USA lawmakers blasted airline executives Tuesday and urged an end to added fees, cramped seats, and poor customer service after public outrage over a passenger dragged off a flight last month.
"Some charge fees for baggage, some charge fees for oxygen, who knows?"Bill Shuster, chairman of the House of Representatives' transportation committee, said: "If airlines don't get their act together, we are going to act; it is going to be one size fits all". But Shuster and others said they would prefer not to legislate around issues about how airlines sell their product. Several members of Congress have introduced legislation to ban the bumping of passengers if flights are overbooked.
United Airlines' chief executive Oscar Munoz has called the forcible removal of a passenger from a United flight last month "a mistake of epic proportions".
American Airlines is more closely monitoring over-sold flights and has promised not to remove anyone after a plane has already been boarded, Kerry Philipovitch, senior vice-president for customer experience, said in testimony prepared for a House hearing on Tuesday.
United CEO Oscar Munoz said, "The reason I'm sitting here today is because on April 9 we had a serious breach of public trust".
"It is my mission to ensure we make the changes needed to provide our customers with the highest level of service and the deepest sense of respect ... ultimately our actions will speak louder than words", he said. Police were summoned, and Dao, 69, was dragged bloodied from the flight.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which held a hearing to examine airline customer service and consumer protection for passengers. Munoz said the airline called on security when there was no safety threat, it booked crew at the last minute and didn't offer enough incentives for passengers to give up a seat.
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) said United Airlines created the opportunity for the violent confrontation when "you made your problem the customer's problem".
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United President Scott Kirby joined Munoz at the hearing, along with top executives of American, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
But the airline executives couldn't avoid a grilling by the House Transportation Committee.
But legislators' questions ranged beyond specific incidents to the general disconnect between airlines' staff and their customers. The hearing came after the release of video showing a passenger being forcibly removed from a United flight in early April so the airline could make room for its employees to fly.
Legislation endorsed by Booker and a group of other senate Democrats would prohibit removing passengers after they've boarded a plane, hike the amount of compensation airlines have to pay in cases of bumping, and requires a government study of whether to restrict carriers from selling more seats than are available on a plane.
And Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said, "I was going to ask, why do you hate the American people?"
Members of Congress complained about having to squeeze uncomfortably into tight seats, paying fees to check bags or change flights, having their luggage lost, paying extra to get a window or an aisle seat, and so on.
The carrier reached a settlement with Dao last week.
"We are not going to go broke, I promise you that", said Bob Jordan, executive vice president at Southwest.
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