Airlines Fined by DOT for Violating Consumer-Protection Rules

U.S. Airways, Spirit Airlines, Continental, and Hawaiian Airlines are among the airlines that have been fined heavily for various consumer protection violations since August last year. The latest enforcement involves U.S. Airways with a $40,000 penalty on the company’s improper fare display. The rule requires clear disclosure of the existence of all charges on the first screen where fares are quoted, including additional fees and taxes as applied beyond the base fare.

According to reports, U.S. Airways did not display total fare information on its website, posting some one-way fares for a short time without indicating that additional fees and taxes would apply. The company said in a consent order that its failure to include the additional charges “was wholly unintentional and the result of an inadvertent programming error.” Nevertheless, the move by the Department of Transportation seems to highlight a more aggressive approach in enforcing existing consumer-protection measures.

Last August, Continental was fined $75,000 for the same airfare-advertisement violation of not including additional taxes or government fees at the first point at which fares were displayed, according to the DOT. Continental denied the allegation but paid the fine to avoid litigation, one source said.

Another recent violation by both U.S. Airways and Hawaiian Airlines involves the so-called code sharing, where the companies did not inform passengers that they would be flying on regional carriers for some portions of their trips. DOT investigators made telephone calls to both carriers’ reservation lines and found that reservation agents failed to disclose code-sharing during a substantial number of those calls. US Airways was assessed a $70,000 penalty and Hawaiian Airlines $50,000.

A host of other consumer-protection violations has also been found within the airline industry, including denying boarding compensation and refusing to accept baggage liability. For example, in September last year, Spirit Airlines was fined $375,000 for violating those rules, among others, a record for these kinds of violations.

Ray LaHood, the head of the DOT said in his official blog, Welcome to the Fast Lane, that in one incidence, Spirit Airlines took 14 months to settle a baggage claim and refused to accept responsibility for missing laptops and other items the company had accepted as part of the baggage. Mr. LaHood also said, “The message should be clear: we will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate our rules.”

[Image: Simon sees/Flickr]