Are the government’s airline cops about to get tough on crime? The Department of Transportation says it is, and now there’s new evidence that it’s following through.
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Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation yesterday claimed to be a leader in the administration’s open government initiative, which is supposed to transform the federal bureaucracy into a “transparent, collaborative, and participatory government” that touches the lives of citizens.
Last week’s story about how the Transportation Department has adopted a more pro-consumer attitude didn’t include the recent fine against United Airlines and news of its new Web site.
The online travel agency Ultimate Fares faces $600,000 in government fines for failing to include taxes and service fees in its airfares, a U.S. Department of Transportation Administrative Law Judge has ruled. The fine would be the largest ever assessed for advertising violations, according to regulators.
And it’s the wrong answer. In a recent column about luggage, I suggested that a simple rulemaking by the Transportation Department could compel airlines to include one piece of checked luggage as part of the base fare. I recommended that readers write the DOT to let it know they supported such action.
In a surprise move, the Department of Transportation has fined two airlines for failing to disclose codesharing flights and disregarding their denied-boarding rules. United Airlines faces $80,000 in penalties for neglecting to inform travelers that certain flights were operated by another airline. And Delta Air Lines is being fined $375,000 for bumping passengers from its flights without compensation.
When Pina Belfiore-Benvenuto’s bags were lost on a recent flight from New York to Paris, the missing contents included a digital camera and a watch — two items that her airline’s contract of carriage exclude from liability. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, her carrier told her she was out of luck. Maybe it shouldn’t have.
Five people. That’s how many bothered to comment on the Transportation Department’s latest rulemaking proposal that would force airlines to report more details about delays. If you’re not shocked – no, outraged – by that number, read on. You will be.
Just in time for the busy summer travel season, the Transportation Department this morning announced a series of steps designed to calm the frayed nerves of air travelers, including a new rule that doubles the limit on compensation airlines must pay passengers who are involuntarily bumped from their flight.
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