Airline Pleaded Force Majeure; Must Avoid Complaints To Avoid
Fine
Regional carrier Comair has settled a Department of
Transportation investigation into customer complaints stemming from
a December 2004 breakdown of its computer system, that stranded
thousands of passengers far away from home for the holidays.
DOT was looking into complaints by at least four passengers, who
said the airline engaged in "unfair and deceptive" business
practices and told them their Christmas-week flights were cancelled
due to bad weather... and not the computer problems.
Weather is considered an "act of God," meaning the airline isn't
responsible for making amends to passengers; Comair is responsible
for providing hotels and other accomodations for passengers
stranded due to a computer snafu.
"By misleading consumers in this manner, Comair engaged in an
unfair and deceptive practice," the DOT ruled, according to the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
In the settlement agreement, reached last month, Comair does not
admit to, or deny, the alleged violations. The airline may also
avoid paying the $75,000 fine, as long as no new complaints
are filed over the next 14 months, and the carrier shows a
willingness to provide additional service to any customers
displaced over the next year.
"We’ve taken steps to make sure this doesn’t happen
again," said Comair spokeswoman Kate Marx. She also pointed out the
airline reserved approximately 2,000 hotel rooms during the
week-long crisis, of which 1,800 were filled by displaced
customers.
"We reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses for hundreds of
passengers," she added.
As ANN reported, Comair
grounded all of the airlines' 1,100 Christmas Day flights, leaving
approximately 290,000 passengers to spend the holiday stuck in
terminals from Salt Lake to Atlanta. The problem was blamed on the
airline's computer system, used to track flight crew schedules,
which crashed following a massive rescheduling due to winter
storms.
Parent company Delta Air Lines estimated the
Comair shutdown cost the company $20 million.
The DOT found that on December 25, an email memo was sent to
Comair employees saying the "cancellations are the result of the
severe weather." Comair argued the severe weather contributed to
the computer glitch, which in turn led to force majeure event --
defined as a significant catastrophe, such as war or a labor
strike, that exempts the carrier from responsibility.
The agency didn't buy that explanation, replying "we view
seriously any carrier’s failure to honor commitments made to
consumers."
The Enquirer reports the DOT fines airlines on a semi-regular
basis, for infractions such as failure to provide wheelchair access
and other practices. At least half of those fines are subsequently
forgiven, however, if the carrier promises to be good for at least
one year... and further credits are given if the airline takes
additional measures to ward off future problems.
A DOT spokesman told the paper the practice of forgiving fines
"provides an incentive for future compliance," adding repeat
offenders are hit with the maximum penalties.