Senate Panel Approves Smoking Ban on All U.S. Flights

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee agreed Thursday to permanently prohibit cigarette smoking on all domestic airline flights, expanding the current ban on smoking during trips of two hours or less.

The restrictions were included in an $11.9-billion spending bill for fiscal 1990 transportation programs that the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by a 17-0 vote. The measure is expected to reach the full Senate next week.

“It’s time to get on with protecting public health and safety, and this is one way to make certain that happens,” said the sponsor of the restrictions, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

By 18 to 11, the lawmakers rejected an attempt by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) to water down the proposal by making the current ban permanent.

The committee also rejected 15 to 8 an amendment by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) that would have forbidden smoking and alcohol drinking aboard airliners.

Current restrictions, which last until April, cover 80% of all U.S. airline routes. Lautenberg’s proposal would take effect 90 days after the bill becomes law and would supersede the current prohibition if enacted before April.

House-Senate negotiators will have to work out a compromise because the House voted Aug. 3 to make the current prohibition permanent.

The vote spelled yet another defeat for the tobacco industry and edged health groups and airline employee unions a step closer toward their latest victory.

Supporters of the ban argue that with the recirculated air of airline cabins, nonsmoking passengers face a risk of lung cancer and other diseases by breathing cigarette smoke.

Opponents have claimed that health hazards from the fumes are unproved and that the ban hurts people who rely on cigarette sales for their jobs.

As under current law, Lautenberg’s extension would levy fines of up to $1,000 for passengers caught smoking and up to $2,000 for people found to have disconnected smoke detectors in aircraft restrooms.