Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA) has learned from sources on Capitol Hill that a deal has been struck to allow passage of the long-delayed FAA Reauthorization bill. Evidently, Republicans have agreed to modify the National Mediation Board (NMB) language in the bill which will allow the bill to move forward in about two weeks barring any glitches.

CTA has been working steadily to have inclusion of airline fee transparency language in the bill. It has garnered support from the Senate which included an amendment, introduced by Sen. Menendez (D-NJ), specifying that passengers be told of airline fees prior to purchase of air transportation. CTA has also been supported by GDS’s such as Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport, In additon, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the Business Travel Coalition (BTC, representing corporate travel managers) have been working side-by-side with CTA.

The final CTA proposal sent to the Commerce Committee and Transportation Committee requested language that would instruct the Department of Transportation (DOT) to:

Prepare a rulemaking that will create a framework for all airlines, foreign and domestic, to disclose airfares, mandatory or optional fees and taxes in such a manner that the total cost of travel is available to passengers for across-airlines price comparison and purchase through all sales channels with which any airline agrees to do business.

Negotiations are ongoing between congressional staffers on both sides of the aisle. However, the airlines, so far, have refused any language that will force them to disclose prices, any prices other than the basic airfare stripped of all ancillary services such as baggage, seat reservations, meals, WiFi, etc.

This would be a good time call your Congressman or Senator and let them know you would like to know the full cost of travel before you have to purchase your airline tickets.

Knowing what you are paying for is not too much to ask.

The FAA bill deal reached Friday applies only to the Railway Labor Act that governs airline unionization. The new agreement, if passed, will require a public hearing before the NMB makes future rulings.

Here is the wording, tucked at the end of the House version of the bill, that Democrats would not allow to move forward:

SEC. 903. REPEAL OF RULE.
…the rule prescribed by the National Mediation Board relating to representation election procedures published on May 11, 2010 (95 Fed. Reg.26062) and revising sections 1202 and 1206 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no force or effect.

The agreement between the Senate and House will change the way union elections are held, changing runoff rules so that one of the options on the runoff ballot could be “no union.” Plus, with the new agreement, if passed, it will take 50 percent of the workers ask for an election or decirtification of a union.