FAA bill calling for baggage-fee refund clears Senate panel

A Senate committee this week passed a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that its authors said offers more consumer protections than any such bill the body has considered in recent memory — including refunding baggage fees for luggage delayed beyond a certain point.

The measure also calls for creating a standardized method for airlines to disclose their ancillary fees in a more transparent manner. The bill, which would fund the agency until September 2017, also touches on other electrified aviation issues: it boosts drone enforcement and includes privacy protections against drone operators while expanding testing.

Written almost a year after the mentally unstable co-pilot of a Germanwings flight intentionally crashed the plane into the French Alps, killing everyone on board, the bill would also require the FAA to implement additional mental health screenings for commercial pilots.

Passed easily by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation with a slew of amendments, the bill is also notable for the fact that it does not include mention of privatizing air traffic control operations. That was a major component of a divisive FAA reauthorization bill passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and authored by its chairman, Republican Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania.

The Senate bill also does not include an increase in passenger facility charges, a $4.50 fee added to every plane ticket that helps fund airport infrastructure projects and which hasn’t been increased since 2000.

“While some might be disappointed that this bill did not go further when it comes to air traffic control reforms or increased airport infrastructure funding, I believe this bill is a significant step forward,” said Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), chairman of the Senate committee and co-author of the bill.

One additional consumer-friendly amendment proposed during the bill’s markup that would have prohibited airlines from imposing fees “that are not reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by the air carriers,” was defeated in a roll-call vote, with Thune saying it’s up to the passenger, not the government, to decide when a fee is unreasonable.

Thune said he hopes the full Senate will vote on the reauthorization bill in early April.

“This bill also creates a program to test various technologies to keep drones away from airports, and it requires the FAA to work with NASA to test and develop drone traffic management,” said Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, the ranking Democrat, at the bill’s markup.