Losing time is stressful. You can’t get it back, and in the last few weeks we’ve watched airline carriers make decisions effecting tens of thousands of passengers. All of it adding up to lost time, lost opportunities and piles of stress.

The New York Times published an interesting article discussing the never-ending question: What are our rights as passengers? How do we protect our time? As reported, “While there’s no question that these are tough times for the airline industry, it is the paying passengers who are feeling the effects. Indeed, the recent spate of flight cancellations and a series of low-cost airline shutdowns have caused many travelers to face a frustrating reality: airline passengers have virtually no rights.” So where do we go from here?

Flight Chaos Shows Passengers Have Few Rights

“American Airlines cancels more than 3,000 flights because of maintenance issues. Too bad. Skybus Airlines goes bankrupt and shuts down. Find another way to get to Ohio. You’re trapped on a tarmac for 10 hours – sit tight. The state of air travel in the United States has perhaps never been worse…”

[Read] NY Times

Bumped Fliers could get $800

“The government is ordering airlines to double the compensation they must pay passengers bumped from oversold flights to as much as $800 under certain conditions. Under the change announced Wednesday by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, fliers who are involuntarily bumped would receive up to $400 if they are rescheduled to reach their destination within two hours of their original arrival time, or four hours for international flights, and up to $800 if their arrival is delayed longer.”

[Read] CNN

JetBlue’s Expansion has Rivals Scrambling

“Even as rising fuel costs are grounding weaker airlines - including three this month - airline competition is heating up for travelers flying the Pacific coast. On the runway is JetBlue Airways Corp. with new 100-seat jets that will begin flying next month from Long Beach up and down the coast in a move that financial analysts say may be bold but risky.”

[Read] LA Times

AA Pilots Slam Management for delays, poor service

“American Airlines pilots stood silently outside the buildings of the airline’s biggest customers and investors Tuesday to protest what they claim is penny-pinching management that is undermining the nation’s largest carrier. The protests stretched from London to San Francisco, and ranged from a dozen pilots in some places to nearly 200 in others.The event marked the latest move by the pilots’ union to highlight their differences with management over pay — in their view not enough for pilots, too much for executives.”

[Read] USA Today