Sun, May 30, 2010
One Advertised A Fare That Was Not Actually Available, And That
Was The Lesser Fine
The U.S. DOT assessed civil penalties against AirTran Airways
and Delta Air Lines on Friday for violating rules that require
airline price advertisements to disclose the full price consumers
must pay for air transportation. AirTran was fined $20,000
and Delta $40,000.
"Our fare advertising rules are designed to ensure that
consumers know how much they will pay for a ticket when they shop
for air travel," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood. "We expect airlines to comply with our rules and will
continue to take enforcement action when necessary."
The action against Air Tran resulted from it advertising a fare
that was not available. On Feb. 16, 2010, AirTran posted a
press release on its website advertising its "Leave the Blizzard
Behind Sale." The sale lasted for 72 hours and applied for
travel on AirTran before May 26, 2010. The press release
advertised fares "starting as low as $39" one-way. However,
an investigation by the Department's Aviation Enforcement Office
revealed that there were no seats available for $39 as part of the
sale and that the lowest available fare for the sale was
$44.
The action against Delta involved the carrier's failure to
provide adequate notice of taxes and fees that were not included in
certain base fares at the first point they were advertised on its
website. The only charges that airlines may list separately
from the base fare are government-imposed taxes and fees that are
assessed on a per-passenger basis, such as passenger facility
charges and international departure taxes. On Internet
displays, airlines may prominently note that taxes and fees are
extra, with that statement being a link that takes a consumer
directly to a description of the nature and amount of those
charges. However, on some of Delta's Internet displays, the
statement that taxes and fees were extra was not a link and the
link the carrier provided failed to refer consumers directly to a
statement that did provide the required information on the
additional taxes and fees.
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