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Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3051 - Airline Passenger Protection Act of 1987

September 14, 1987

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)
(Mineta (D) California and 46 others)

The administration opposes H.R. 3051, and the President's senior advisers will recommend that the President veto the bill, should it be presented to him, unless it is amended to:

— Eliminate the provision imposing benefit payments and other specified labor protective provisions in the event of airline mergers. The airline industry is fully mature and does not need, or benefit from, industry-specific standards imposed by the Federal Government that vary from most other industries.

— Eliminate the requirement that the Department of Transportation (DOT) establish and enforce airport capacity levels for some 40-45 airports, which would be costly and burdensome and would produce perverse operating constraints.

— Delete the provision which would extend FAA preemption of State consumer protection activities (currently limited to the areas of "rates, routes, and services") to include any actions required by States in areas in which the FAA may act, however beneficial the State requirements may be to consumers. This provision conflicts with fundamental principles of Federalism and would prohibit State activities that have been instrumental in identifying and preventing numerous unfair practices.

— Eliminate the detailed performance reporting requirements specified in the bill, which are far more inclusive than those already required by DOT and which would create anti-safety incentives by failing to exclude data on flights delayed or cancelled due to mechanical malfunctions. These provisions would also increase costs to consumers by requiring reporting of data that are unnecessarily more detailed than data already collected by DOT.

Ronald Reagan, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3051 - Airline Passenger Protection Act of 1987 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/328603

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