Session of 2000
HOUSE BILL No. 3015
By Committee on Appropriations
3-3
10 AN ACT enacting
the Kansas airline ticket consumer protection act.
11
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
13 Section
1. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
14 Kansas airline ticket consumer protection
act. The purpose of this act
15 shall be to encourage airlines to sell
tickets on flights for which they intend
16 to honor published departure and arrival
times and thereby allow the
17 public to rely on such times when making
travel purchases. It is not the
18 purpose of this act to compromise passenger
safety.
19 (b) As used in
this section:
20 (1) ``Air
carrier'' means any individual, corporation, association or
21 partnership undertaking by any means,
directly or indirectly, to provide
22 air transportation.
23 (2) ``Ticket
agent'' means any individual, corporation, association or
24 partnership that as a principal or agent
sells, offers for sale, negotiates
25 for, or holds itself out as selling,
providing, or arranging for, air
26 transportation.
27 (c) Regardless of
the form in which an airline ticket is issued, any air
28 carrier who sells or offers for sale
airline tickets in Kansas for a regularly
29 scheduled flight shall honor the terms and
conditions of any ticket sold
30 in Kansas. Departure and arrival times
shall be a term and condition of
31 the ticket. If in the preceding six months,
the air carrier has failed 50%
32 of the time to depart on time or arrive on
time for such regularly sched-
33 uled flight, such evidence shall be
admissible as prima facie evidence that
34 the air carrier is not honoring the
requirements on the face of the ticket.
35 Delays for which a mechanical irregularity,
criminal act or a weather con-
36 dition adverse to safe air travel is
documented as the cause of the delay
37 shall not be included in the statistics on
failure to depart or arrive on time.
38 Any terms and conditions imposed by an air
carrier on its tickets which
39 would preclude or limit enforcement of this
act shall be null and void.
40 (d) Any air
carrier that sells or offers for sale airline tickets in Kansas
41 for a regularly scheduled flight and for
which a passenger who purchased
42 such a ticket is required to remain on an
airplane operated by such carrier
43 while such airplane is on the ground and
the cabin doors are closed with-
2
1 out providing a detailed explanation
of the reason for such delay with an
2 accurate assessment of when the air
carrier will either allow the passenger
3 to deplane or when the plane will
become airborne shall constitute a
4 violation of this act.
5 (e) The
jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this section shall be
6 under the provisions of the Kansas
consumer protection act. Violation of
7 this section is a deceptive act or
practice under the Kansas consumer
8 protection act.
9 (f) In
addition to any other penalty, the air carrier shall pay to the
10 ticket purchaser three times the amount of
the purchase price of the
11 ticket.
12 (g) A judgment
issued pursuant to this section may be collected by
13 garnishing any funds in the possession of
the ticket agent due or owed to
14 the air carrier.
15 (h) If after the
effective date of this act any air carrier, as a result of
16 this act, discontinues selling tickets in
the state of Kansas, such air carrier
17 shall include a notice in any and all
advertising or promotional marketing
18 materials distributed in any form in the
state of Kansas, in at least 20
19 point type or type of a greater size when
necessary to be visible to the
20 audience for which the advertising is
directed or by a notice delivered by
21 human voice in any television, radio or
other broadcast advertising as
22 follows: ``Tickets are not sold in Kansas
because this airline refuses to
23 honor its published flight schedules.''
24 (i) This section
shall be part of and supplemental to the Kansas con-
25 sumer protection act.
26 Sec. 2. This act shall
take effect and be in force from and after its
27 publication in the statute book.