acurrier,
Let me try to answer you question, but before I do, let me first challenge something PHX has said.
Quote:
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An airline is a business not public tranportation
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That is plain wrong. An airline is a business
AND public transportation. It is also a business which relies heavily on government support and infrastructure. Let me give you an example. ATC is government run in the US. In many other countries, ATC is a private entity. In the US, ATC does not pay taxes to the government, because it is an government entity. In the UK for example, the ATC agency is required to pay taxes and fees. Therefore the fees that airlines pay for ATC in the US are subsidised compared to other countries. This is repeated throughout the air infrastructure system, with airports in government or local government ownership, radar, weather warning systems, etc. This is provided because it is regarded as a public transportation system and represents a significant subsidy.
Now, in answer to your question about bait and switch and consumer law. Airlines have a statutory exemption from Federal anti-trust law. In addition, the Airline Deregulation Act (1978) has a preemption clause which exempts airlines from State and Local truth-in-advertising and other consumer protection laws. Now ask yourself.. why do they have this exemption? A number of States Attorney Generals have asked the Federal Government to allow them to take enforcement action against airlines who have breached consumer laws. The airlines spend huge amounts of lobbying money to block this and other flyers rights legislation.
There is current legislation before congress which stipulates some minimal standards for passengers to protect against being held hostage against your will on the ground by airlines, but I have little confidence it will pass. You could perhaps support that. Unfortunately, the legislation is being promoted by someone called Kate Hanni at flyersrights.org. She is a bit of a narcissist and seems a bit kooky, but it might be worth a look.
(Kate recently posted a method which she said was for information, but which she did not endorse which suggested that people who are stranded on airplane should declare a medical emergency and then when they are disembarked, refuse to get on the ambulance. That
is very dangerous advice. In severe weather, wasting an emergency ambulances time could cost people their lives. That kind of irresponsible posting has put me off using the site).
Nevertheless, I support the legislation itself. You could perhaps contact your Senator directly and ask him/her to support it.