CarolA said:
As USAir has been showing... going into bankruptcy doesn't really impact day to day flights.
Obviously, you don't fly out of Pittsburgh much. As a business traveller who flies out of Pittsburgh regularly, I certainly have noticedd the routes have been scaled back and there certainly are less flights available and more cancellations.
CarolA said:
Also, the congress passed a law, if a bankrupt scheduled carrier quits flying the other airlines have to honor the tickets on a standby basis and can charge no more then about $50 for that.
Well, that is not the whole truth. Here is some further info regarding other airlines obligation to honor a bankrupt carrier's tickets.
FYI from
http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/bankruptcy.html
If a bankrupt airline in the USA goes out of business, will other airlines have to honor their tickets?
Yes, but only other USA-based airlines flying exactly the same routes (which there aren't in many cases), only if space is available (which it probably won't be in many cases), and only until 18 November 2005.
Under the USA Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-71, 19 November 2001) the Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-176, 12 December 2003), and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 December 2004) other airlines based in the USA are required to provide transportation to holders of tickets on other USA-based airlines that have ceased operations due to insolvency or bankruptcy, "to the extent practicable", provided that the passenger makes arrangements with another airline within 60 days of the shutdown of the ticketed airline. The USA Department of Transportation has interpreted this in a series of guidance letters (administrative rulings) to mean that other USA-based airlines flying the exact same route are required to honor tickets of a USA-based airline that shut down, on a space-available (standby) basis, for no more than US$25 per person per flight, one-way.
Other airlines filed a federal lawsuit (Delta Air Lines, Inc. and American Airlines, Inc. vs. U.S. Department of Transportation, Case No. 02-1309 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, filed October 8, 2002) challenging the $25 per flight limit as exceeding DOT's authority: they argued that they should be allowed to charge at least their regular $100 per person minimum re-ticketing fee, and that they have no way to verify whether someone had an electronic ticket in the reservation system of an airline whose reservation system has been shut down. That lawsuit was withdrawn by the airlines, but without any decision on the merits. The DOT has reiterated that other airlines may not charge more than US$25 per flight, but the airlines could -- and probably would if the potential costs were substantial -- challenge any attemopt by the DOT to enforce its interpretation, prevent them from charging more, or force them to accommodate passengers without positive written proof of having had tickets on the bankrupt airline.
This law provides no protection at all to many ticket holders, and only very limited protection to the rest. It was intended to reasssure travellers, not really to protect them. It applies only to other airlines based in the USA flying exactly the same route, and only if they have space available after selling as many tickets as they could to their own paying passengers. If a major airline goes out of business, many passengers will have to wait weeks for seats to be available, especially at that airline's hubs. Particularly on international routes, there is often no other USA- based airline flying the same route (i.e. serving the same destination from the same gateway -- even when two or more USA-based airlines serve the same international desitnation, they typically do so from different gateways in the USA). No other airline based in the USA flies the same route as any of US Airways' or hawaiian Airlines' international routes, for example.
This law requiring airlines to accommodate passengers holding ticket on insolvent airlines was originally scheduled to expire on 18 May 2003. Congress has extended it three times, most recently through 18 November 2005, but each time with a "sunset" provision that will cause it to expire automatically unless Congress takes further action.
There is no guarantee that you will be able to get another flight.
I hope for many people's sake that US Airways is able to hang on but it is very much in doubt right now. At least if they do go under you haven't lost much (~$100). Here's hoping for a little bit of
for you and all the others with future flights booked on US Airways (and other bankrupt carriers.)
