Canceled flights, fees for checked bags and overbooked seats were the concerns raised by federal legislators during the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing. This occurred on May 2, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where the tone was noted to sound like aggrieved airline passengers. The hearing is one example of federal interest in a break in relations between the airline industry and customers. This was sparked recently by a United Airlines flight where a customer refused to give up his seat to make room for employees. As a result, he was forcibly removed from the plane. An unannounced amount of settlement is pending between United Airlines and the passenger.
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While the committee sternly reminded industry providers that it could enforce regulation to rectify the situation, United CEO, Oscar Munoz voiced public apology several times during the hearing for what he called a mistake of epic proportions.
There are other committee hearings scheduled in coming days. Moreover, legislation has been introduced to address the apparent break points in relations between customers and commercial airlines.
