The Trump administration is establishing an airline passenger experience advisory committee, which will bring together airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, and aviation labor unions together with government organizations to “evaluate ways to improve the comprehensive passenger experience.”
Earlier this week, the Department of Transportation published the committee’s charter, which explains its objectives and the scope of its work.
The charter explains that the ‘Passenger Experience Advisory Committee’ will advise Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford in areas involved in improving the airline passenger experience and customer service.
Some of the areas that the committee will look at include:
- Improving baggage handling, airport wayfinding, and how flight delays and cancellations are communicated to passengers.
- Improving airport security screening.
- Evaluate ways to make the National Airspace System more efficient.
- And evaluate ways to improve cooperation and coordination between the DOT and other federal agencies “that directly interface with aviation passengers at airports.”
The plan is for members of the committee to meet around twice a year, although special meetings and sub-committees might meet at different times.
The committee has been established for the next two years, running through September 30, 2028.
In a statement, the Department of Transportation said it would provide further updates as the committee’s work progresses.
The Trump administration has taken a very different approach to passenger rights and the passenger experience compared to the work of the DOT under President Biden.
The current administration has dumped plans to give passengers the right to claim compensation in the event of a long delay or cancellation within an airline’s control, and has rolled back consent orders that fined airlines for chronically delayed flights.
Nonetheless, Duffy says that his DOT plans to bring back the Golden Age of Air Travel through various initiatives, such as encouraging passengers to treat airline staff with respect, and signalling that airlines and airports should offer more healthy food options.
Although air traveller disability rights are the subject of another committee, the DOT has also delayed the enforcement of a landmark set of regulations designed to give disabled American air travellers more rights.
After delaying the rulemaking introduced under the Biden administration, late last year, the DOT said it would further delay enforcement “while it engages in a new rulemaking that will consider whether to modify those provisions.”
The proposed new rule was meant to be published by April, although there is yet no sign of the new rulemaking.
