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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 9 May 2023
U.S. to propose new rules for airline cancellations, delays

By DAVID KOENIG After widespread flight dis-
AP Airlines Writer ruptions last summer, the
The Biden administration is Transportation Department
working on new regulations posted an online dash-
that would require airlines board that was designed
to compensate passen- to pressure the airlines to
gers and cover their meals improve customer service.
and hotel rooms if they are The site lets consumers
stranded for reasons within check each airline’s policy
the airline’s control. on refunds and compensa-
The White House said Presi- tion when flights are can-
dent Joe Biden and Trans- celed or delayed.
portation Secretary Pete Each of the 10 largest U.S.
Buttigieg would announce airlines quickly promised to
the start of the rulemaking provide cash or vouchers
process Monday. for meals when a cancel-
The rulemaking pledge lation forces passengers
continues a push by the to wait at least three hours
Democratic administra- for another flight. Nine of
tion to require airlines to the 10 all but Frontier Air-
improve customer service, lines also promised to pay
and it comes just weeks be- for accommodations for
fore the start of the peak passengers stranded over-
summer travel season. Passengers wait in line to check in for their flights at Southwest Airlines service desk at LaGuardia night. Questions arose
The aim of the rules would Airport, on Dec. 27, 2022, in New York. again around reimbursing
be, for the first time, to re- Associated Press consumers for out-of-pock-
quire airlines to pay com- Airlines for America, which more workers and reducing lish final rules around new et costs after Southwest
pensation beyond a ticket represents the biggest car- their schedules, the group compensation for travelers. Airlines canceled nearly
refund and to cover ex- riers, said in a statement said. The rule-making process 17,000 flights during a De-
penses that consumers in- that airlines have no in- After the pandemic hit, air- can take months or years. cember meltdown in ser-
cur, including rebooking centive to delay or cancel lines paid tens of thousands Currently, when an airline vice.
on another flight, if the air- flights. The trade group said of workers to quit or retire cancels a flight for any The Transportation and Jus-
line causes a cancellation more than half of cancella- early, but they have add- reason, consumers can de- tice departments are inves-
or significant delay.”When tions in 2022 and 2023 have ed about 118,000 workers mand a refund of the un- tigating whether Southwest
an airline causes a flight been caused by “extreme since November 2020 and used part of their ticket and scheduled more flights than
cancellation or delay, pas- weather” or air traffic con- now have 5% more em- certain extras that they it realistically could handle.
sengers should not foot trol outages. ployees than before the might have paid to the air- The Transportation Depart-
the bill,” Buttigieg said in a “Carriers have taken re- pandemic, according to line, such as fees for check- ment says it is working with
statement. Airline-caused sponsibility for challenges Transportation Department ing a bag or getting a seat the airlines to reduce can-
cancellations include flights within their control and figures. assignment. Airlines often cellations and delays this
scrubbed for mechanical continue working diligently There is no certainty if or try to persuade consumers summer, when air travel
issues with the plane or lack to improve operational re- when the Transportation to accept a travel voucher could exceed pre-corona-
of a crew. liability,” including hiring Department might pub- instead of a refund. virus pandemic records. q

U.S. backs study of safe injection sites, overdose prevention

By CARLA K. JOHNSON costs and to gauge poten- about overdose preven- Nevada and New Mexico vetoed safe injection site
AP Medical Writer tial savings for the health tion centers, but ultimate- have considered allow- bills last year, and Pennsyl-
For the first time, the U.S. care and criminal justice ly, we need data to see if ing them. The governors vania’s Senate last week
government will pay for systems. The universities an- they are working or not, of California and Vermont voted for a ban on them.q
a large study measuring nounced the grant Mon- and what impact they may
whether overdoses can day. The money will not be have on the community,”
be prevented by so-called used to operate the sites, said Dr. Nora Volkow, di-
safe injection sites, places the universities said. rector of the National Insti-
where people can use her- With U.S. drug overdose tute on Drug Abuse, which
oin and other illegal drugs deaths reaching nearly awarded the grant.
and be revived if they take 107,000 in 2021, supporters Sites operate in 14 coun-
too much. contend safe injection sites, tries, including Canada,
The grant provides more also called overdose pre- Australia and France, ac-
than $5 million over four ventions centers, can save cording to the Drug Policy
years to New York Univer- lives and connect people Alliance, a group working
sity and Brown University to with addiction treatment, for decriminalization and
study two sites in New York mental health services and safe drug use policies.
City and one opening next medical care. In the U.S., New York City
year in Providence, Rhode Opponents worry the sites opened the first publicly
Island. encourage drug use and recognized safe injection
Researchers hope to enroll that they will lead to the site in 2021 and Rhode Is- Brian Hackel, right, an overdose prevention specialist, helps
Steven Baez, a client suffering addiction, find a vein to inject
1,000 adult drug users to deterioration of surround- land became the first state intravenous drugs at an overdose prevention center, OnPoint
study the sites’ effects on ing neighborhoods. to authorize them that year. NYC, in New York, Feb. 18, 2022.
overdoses, to estimate their “There is a lot of discussion States including Colorado, Associated Press