S. 1733 — Introduced in Senate

II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1733 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 3, 2017 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Carper, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to revise regulations relating to oversold flights to prohibit the forcible removal of passengers from such flights, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Customers Not Cargo Act of 2017. 2. Prohibition on forcible removal of passengers from oversold flights (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall revise the regulations under part 250 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations— (1) to prohibit an air carrier from forcibly removing a passenger from an aircraft after boarding because the air carrier oversold the flight or to provide a passenger seat to an employee of the air carrier; (2) to establish standards for resolving oversales once an aircraft has been boarded through the provision of escalating incentives to passengers to encourage voluntary rebooking; and (3) to require an air carrier, to the extent practicable, to resolve issues related to overselling a flight before boarding the flight. (b) Exceptions In revising the regulations as required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider providing for exceptions to those regulations for— (1) a medical emergency; or (2) a circumstance that poses a threat to the safety of the flight.