Assessing Obama’s legacy for travelers

Undoubtedly historians will never stop evaluating and reevaluating the legacy of Barack Obama. But on the specific issue of travel, there’s already plenty to assess as the 44th president of the United States prepares to leave office.

And it’s a record that is decidedly mixed.

The upside for travelers …

• Less than a year after Obama’s inauguration, Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood established himself — in my opinion — as the most consumer-friendly DOT head in history. In December 2009, he introduced a series of Airline Passenger Protections that virtually eliminated lengthy tarmac delays, in addition to requiring airlines to adopt customer service plans. That was just the beginning; two years later LaHood strengthened rules on fee transparency, refunds and involuntary bumping and banned post-purchase fare increases. Has the DOT gone far enough? Not at all, but LaHood’s tenure outshines all others, including current Secretary Anthony Foxx’s term.

• In the wake of the 2009 fatal crash of Continental Connection/Colgan Air Flight 3407 outside Buffalo, victims’ families lobbied to strengthen pilot qualification standards. The Federal Aviation Administration announced new rules in 2013, including a requirement of 1,500 hours flight time for first officers.

• Not all of this administration’s travel efforts focused on airlines. In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission launched a battle that is still being waged over hotel “drip pricing,” by warning leading lodging companies their “resort fees” may be “providing a deceptively low estimate of what consumers can expect to pay for their hotel rooms.” The FTC noted drip pricing also affects rental cars and airlines.

• In 2015, Obama proposed a $5 billion rail safety and development program, primarily aimed at Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor.

• Also noteworthy: Secretary LaHood established himself as the nation’s foremost critic of distracted driving, an ever-growing problem.

And the downside …

Unfortunately, the Obama record could have been much stronger. I was personally involved in two critical safety issues when I served as the only consumer advocate on the DOT’s Future of Aviation Advisory Committee in 2010; the final report provides extensive background on two important proposals that ultimately were not acted upon by Obama appointees.

• During the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama wrote to the Teamsters — representing many of the nation’s airline mechanics — and stated: “The practice of outsourcing aircraft maintenance overseas raises security concerns and pits our skilled mechanics making a middle class living against less skilled, less well protected workers abroad.” I noted this with interest, having spent years investigating the FAA’s “two sets of standards” for overseeing U.S. aircraft repair shops — in-house vs. outsourced, both domestically and abroad.

At the committee, we proposed the FAA (a DOT subsidiary) close “gaps” by establishing a “single, high regulatory standard” for all facilities; unfortunately we were voted down and the issue never made it past the final report’s “Other Areas of Significant Discussion” phase. Subsequently, no meaningful actions were taken. In February 2012, just 14 months after Secretary LaHood received our report, American Airlines cut 4,600 maintenance jobs and became the last carrier in America to outsource much of its heavy maintenance, some overseas. Meanwhile, the saga of Allegiant Air’s maintenance woes continues to generate headlines.

Allegiant says it has met FAA's safety-related concerns

• The other initiative we spearheaded on that committee was requesting the FAA finally ban lap children by closing the loophole on its 1953 rule requiring all airline passengers be safely restrained; it’s an issue I’ve addressed here numerous times. Although our recommendation made it into the final report, one year later the FAA decided against banning lap kids, despite its own public advice that restraints are “the safest place for your child.”

• Aviation history will show airline industry consolidation, already in play for many years, sped up past the point of no return on Obama’s watch. His administration blessed the United-Continental merger in 2010 and the US Airways-American merger in 2013, leaving us with the fewest major network carriers — just three, along with Delta — at any time since the U.S. industry was founded. I testified in Congress against both these mergers and detailed why consumers have suffered here.

What’s particularly perplexing is the odd about-face Obama’s Justice Department took on US-AA. In August 2013, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against the merger, stating it would “substantially lessen competition,” and lead to higher airfares and less service. Yet three months later, the DOJ settled the suit in exchange for a modest divestiture of slots and gates at seven airports. The Obama Administration didn’t launch airline consolidation, but it approved the final stages.

Looking ahead

Not all Obama’s actions are easily labeled as positive or negative. Consider Norwegian Air; on Dec. 2, the DOT granted the carrier authority to operate to the U.S. Understandably, many consumer advocates strongly support the influx of trans-Atlantic low fares. And to be clear, I’m certainly convinced our current “Big Three” oligopoly — American, Delta and United — would benefit from healthy competition. Yet I have concerns about Norwegian’s well-documented “flag of convenience” certification issues and rampant outsourcing of critical functions; USA TODAY aired similar complaints in 2014.

DOT approves contested Norwegian Air flights

As for the Trump administration, it’s hard to judge how travelers will fare in the next four years. Will the candidate who campaigned so vocally against outsourcing American jobs strengthen FAA oversight of overseas aircraft maintenance? Or will the president-elect who has appointed business-friendly Cabinet members attempt to roll back passenger rights gains? As the only former owner of both airline and hotel brands to attain the presidency, how will President Trump oversee those industries?

Stay tuned …

Bill McGee, a contributing editor to Consumer Reports and the former editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, is an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher who worked in airline operations and management for several years. Tell him what you think of his latest column by sending him an email at travel@usatoday.com. Include your name, hometown and daytime phone number, and he may use your feedback in a future column.