A House vote to ban smoking on virtually all domestic airline flights is a step toward further restrictions on the tobacco industry, a cigarette industry opponent contends.
The House voted Tuesday to forbid smoking on all routes in the continental United States and on all flights to and from Hawaii and Alaska scheduled for six hours or less.That would allow smoking on just 28 U.S. flights - 24 to Alaska and Hawaii and four to Guam - of 17,500 the airline industry says are scheduled daily, according to sponsor Rep. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. The ban would take effect 96 days after the measure is signed into law.
Current law bans smoking on domestic flights of two hours or less.
The prohibition is part of a compromise House-Senate measure providing $12 billion for transportation and $3.2 billion for anti-drug programs for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.
Durbin said the proposed smoking restrictions, which the House adopted on a voice vote and with little debate, indicate a shift in federal policy toward the tobacco industry.
Tobacco lobbyists, however, said they do not believe the vote spells a new hostile attitude by lawmakers.
"An airline cabin is a unique environment because a passenger is, in effect, a captive," said Charlie Whitley, a consultant to the Tobacco Institute. "For that reason we don't think this sets a precedent."