FlyerTalk Forums - Fliers' Rights Take Back Seat to Security

Strengthening airline passenger rights — a hot-button issue in Congress for 2 years — is less important now than improving security and the airlines' financial health, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says.

Passenger rights is "really a back-burner issue" after the terrorist attacks that have decimated the airline business, Mineta said in an interview Thursday during his first airline flight since Sept. 11.

The attacks "did put the whole industry in a precarious position," Mineta said. "We're trying to do as much as we can to help out."

Mineta and Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey took a 7 a.m. United Airlines flight from Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Chicago O'Hare, where President Bush announced his plans for strengthening aviation security.

Before the attacks, airlines were under considerable pressure to get passengers — and their bags — to destinations on time.

During last week's debate over a $15 billion bailout package for the airlines, some members of Congress suggested airlines be held accountable for customer service in return for government aid. Airlines began receiving some of the money Thursday.

Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, said those in Congress who hoped to tie the aid to customer service were "really missing the point of the seriousness of this."

Mineta and Hallett say fliers will need to adjust to the stricter security measures that are changing travel.

"Life is vastly different from what it was," said Mineta, who waited in a security line at Baltimore/Washington airport for about half an hour before boarding his flight. When he set off a metal detector, he had to remove his belt.

"Part of the whole process," Mineta said afterward, is remembering that "patience is a form of patriotism."

There will be a certain level of inconvenience "until all of this really gets worked out," Hallett said. "We can't do it overnight."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztra...-28-mineta.htm