Airlines are chipping away at consumers' rights. Here's how travelers can protect themselves.

You can almost feel it when you fly these days. It's that sense that you're a second-class citizen with limited rights — or none at all.

It happened to Janice Lintz when she was traveling from Philadelphia to New York recently. Her airline canceled her flight, left her waiting at the airport, and eventually offered her a $10 meal voucher and 7,500 miles for the "inconvenience."

"It was insulting," says Lintz, a disability advocate who lives in Washington, DC. "I think without consumer protections, travelers are going to be treated miserably."

She's right. Airline passenger rights are disappearing. The U.S. government's recent decision to scrap proposed compensation rules for delays is just the beginning. Behind the scenes, airlines are lobbying to dismantle decades worth of consumer pro