November 18, 2008 Bush takes steps to prevent travel frustrations Play video

(NECN: Washington) - President Bush today announced an expansion of last year's decision to open military aviation corridors to civilian flights. The president made the announcement at the Department of Transportation. He said, the new initiative would ease congestion, and delays for the flying public during the holiday season.

Bush verbatim:

"This year, we're going to expand what we called the Thanksgiving express lanes to areas of the Midwest, the Southwest and the West Coast, including the skies over Phoenix and Los Angeles. In other words, we innovated last year to ease the travel, it worked, and now we're expanding that innovation this year. We're also working with the FAA, the TSA, and the airlines to make more staff available to speed check-in and boarding and to help passengers affected by cancellations and delays. We have just completed new regulations that provide increased protection for consumers. These include measures that will require airlines to provide greater compensation for lost bags, as well as tougher penalties when airlines fail to notify travelers of hidden fees."