Senate passes 'pro-passenger' airline bill

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate voted 95-3 to approve a bill that would grant airline passengers additional rights and double the number of bomb-sniffing dogs at airports.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Tune, R-S.D., called the bill "one of the most passenger-friendly FAA authorization bills we've seen, literally, in a generation."

The bi-partisan bill sets policy and funding for the Federal Aviation Administration through fiscal year 2017.

The $7.1 billion Senate bill would require airlines to state more clearly charges for such things as prime seat selection, checked baggage, changes and cancellations.

Airlines would be required to refund baggage fees if they arrive more than six hours after a domestic flight has landed or more than 12 hours after an international flight.

The Senate resisted the wishes of some members who wanted to restrict the airlines from further shrinking the seat size and space between rows on commercial flights.

A House version of the bill, which has only been approved in committee, would spin off 14,000 air traffic controllers and about 24,000 other FAA employees to a federally chartered, private nonprofit corporation.

House leaders must decide whether to proceed with the FAA changes or amend it to bring it in line with the Senate version.

On security, the Senate bill increases vetting of airport workers, doubles the number of the Transportation Security Administration's bomb-sniffing dogs and adds teams sweeping through airports, looking for suspicious people.

It also would require the FAA to take measures to prevent hackers from tapping into the jetliner control system through entertainment devices brought aboard by passengers.