PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 35.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 13, 2001
Airline Customer Service Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to increase Department of Transportation (DOT) resources allocated to providing: (1) airline passenger consumer protection and related services; and (2) oversight and enforcement of laws and regulations that provide protection for air travelers.Amends Federal aviation law to require each large air carrier to incorporate the provisions of the Airline Customer Service Commitment executed by the Air Transport Association on June 17, 1999, in its contract of carriage. Requires each large air carrier to institute the following specified practices, including to: (1) include fares available at the air carrier's ticket offices and airport ticket service counters (including notifying customers that lower fares may be available on the Internet) when quoting the lowest fare available to passengers; (2) disclose, without being requested, the on-time performance and cancellation rate for a chronically-delayed or canceled flight whenever a customer makes a reservation or purchases a ticket; (3) establish a plan with respect to passengers who must unexpectedly remain overnight during a trip due to flight delays, cancellations, or diversions; (4) establish a customer service quality assurance and performance measurement system; (5) establish realistic targets for reducing chronically-delayed and canceled flights; (6) establish a toll-free telephone number that passengers may use to check on the status of checked baggage that was not delivered on arrival at the passenger's destination; (7) monitor its efforts to improve services provided to passengers with disabilities and special needs; and (8) if it has a frequent flyer program, make available to the public a comprehensive report of frequent flyer redemption information in their customer literature and annual reports.Provides for improved DOT statistics with respect to missing passenger baggage and chronically delayed or canceled flights.Requires the Secretary to initiate a rulemaking to amend DOT regulations to: (1) establish a uniform check-in deadline and to require air carriers to disclose their policies on how such deadlines apply to passengers making connections; and (2) increase the maximum amount of denied boarding compensation for passengers denied boarding involuntarily (bumped).
People & committees
Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] · R–AZ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 35.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator McCain with an amendment. With written report No. 107-13.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator McCain with an amendment. With written report No. 107-13.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1344-1345)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1344)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.319 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.319 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.319 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.319 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.