U.S. DOT RELEASES CONSUMER RULE #3
June 12, 2014
On May 23, 2013 the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published the latest installment of new consumer protections for air travelers in the Federal Register, building on the previous passenger protection rules that were issued in December 2009 and April 2011. The newest rule, “Transparency of Airline Ancillary Fees and Other Consumer Protections Issues” (i.e. Consumer Rule 3), was published in the form of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
The NPRM proposes the following:
- To require airlines and ticket agents to disclose fees for certain additional services (i.e. first checked bag, second checked bag, one carry-on item, and advance seat assignment) associated with airline tickets at all points of sale.
- To expand the number of carriers that would be required to report on-time performance, oversales, and mishandled baggage information to DOT. Reporting carriers would also have to include data for domestic scheduled flights operated by a codeshare partner.
- To enhance protections for air travelers by codifying the Department’s interpretation of the term “ticket agent”, which is used in many laws and regulations.
- To require large travel agents to adopt minimum customer service standards similar to those already imposed on airlines (i.e. responding promptly to customer complaints and holding reservations without payment, or cancelling without penalty, for 24 hours if the reservation is made one week or more prior to a flight’s departure date).
- To require carriers and ticket agents to disclose any code-share arrangements on initial itinerary displays on their websites.
- To require large ticket agents to maintain and display lists of carriers whose tickets they market and sell.
- To prohibit unfair and deceptive practices by ticket agents, such as preferentially ranking flights of certain carriers above others without disclosing the bias in any presentation of carrier schedules, fares, rules, or availability.
- To clarify how the post-purchase price increase rule is applied to price increases for ancillary services.
- DOT has also asked for comments from interested parties on how the industry should best handle erroneous fares that are published by mistake and subsequently purchased by predatory consumers.
Comments on the proposal are due within 90 days of publication in the Federal Register, or by August 21, 2014. We will provide a more complete explanation of the rule shortly as well as any issues you may wish to consider submitting comments on. In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.
This Eckert Seamans Aviation Blog post is intended to keep readers current on matters affecting businesses and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr ( esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco ( dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).