Airline Consumer Protection Act of 2017

Airline Consumer Protection Act of 2017

This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue a final rule to require an air carrier to:

• seek, for a delay exceeding three hours, a cancellation, or a misconnection as a result of circumstances within the air carrier's control, alternative transportation for a displaced passenger; and
• accept, for a reasonable fee, a displaced passenger from another air carrier or a passenger involuntarily denied boarding due to a lack of available seats.

The Government Accountability Office shall submit a report that reviews airline computer network functions.

Any air carrier schedule change resulting from a computer network disruption, security breach, or other inoperability may be considered an event within a carrier's control.

DOT shall:

• publish a final rule to require an air carrier to submit to the Federal Aviation Administration a plan for restoring full functionality of its computer network systems in the event of a service disruption;
• establish an airline industry computer network resiliency working group;
• modify federal regulations to require each air carrier to adopt a contingency plan for any delay, cancellation, or misconnection affecting a passenger; and
• issue regulations to ensure that a ticketed passenger shall not pay a fee to select an alternative flight if the aircraft's lavatory is not functioning.