It would be nice if airlines would commit on their own to treat their passengers right: ensuring, at a minimum, that if you buy a ticket you get a seat and have a reasonable expectation of reaching your destination on time and with your luggage. In today’s world  where air travel is more of an ordeal than an adventure  this is, unfortunately, not the case.

The Obama administration’s new consumer protections for beleaguered airline passengers  including higher compensation for travelers bumped from oversold flights and prominent disclosure of all service fees  are much needed.

The new regulations, proposed on Wednesday, are a response to the many problems of modern air travel, including an enormous increase in the number of passengers bumped by airlines because of overbooked flights.

The Department of Transportation wants to raise the required payments to stranded passengers to a maximum of $1,300  up from a maximum of $800  depending on how long the wait was for another flight. Passengers who bought tickets with frequent-flier miles would be entitled to compensation. And airlines would have to inform passengers that they could receive cash  not just tickets on the same airline.