DOT ISSUES $200,000 PENALTY AGAINST ETIHAD AIRWAYS FOR ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF 14 CFR PART 382
December 27, 2022
On November 4, 2022, DOT issued a consent order assessing $200,000 in civil penalties against Etihad Airways (“Etihad”) for alleged violations of the requirements of 14 CFR Part 382 related to handling and reporting of disability-related complaints.
As background, Part 382, imposes several complaint response, reporting, and training requirements on U.S. and foreign carriers that operate passenger service to/from the U.S. For example, carriers are required to provide a written response to any written disability-related complaint that alleges a violation of Part 382 within 30 days of receiving the complaint, and ensure that such responses specifically discuss the complaint, provide an admission or denial regarding whether the carrier believes a violation of Part 382 took place, summarize the facts that led to the carrier’s conclusion, and advise the complainant of their right to refer the complaint to DOT for an official investigation. Under the rules carriers are also required to submit an annual report detailing all of the disability-related complaints they received for the preceding calendar year, and ensure that employees and contractors are trained on all rule requirements.
In Etihad’s case, DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (“OACP”) investigated the carrier’s handling of disability-related complaints and allegedly found that between 2017 and 2020, Etihad’s responses to such complaints were not compliant with the requirements of Part 382 as they failed to admit or deny whether a violation had occurred, did not summarize the facts, and did not properly advise complainants of their right to refer complaints to DOT for investigation. OACP also alleged that in some cases, Etihad’s responses pre-dated their investigations meaning that Etihad was allegedly preparing some responses before it even began an investigation into the relevant complaint. Etihad also allegedly failed to properly categorize passenger complaints as being disability-related complaints, which resulted in Etihad handling its complaints in a manner that was inconsistent with the regulations. OACP also alleged that between 2014 and 2020, Etihad had not accurately reported the number of disability-related complaints it received. Lastly, OACP alleged that Etihad’s alleged violations of Part 382 requirements showed that it was not properly training its personnel to proficiency on how to appropriately respond to complaints or on how to report complaints.
The implementation of the penalty on Etihad serves as a further reminder of how seriously DOT takes violations of Part 382 and illustrates the importance of training on Part 382 as well as keeping up with the relevant complaint response and reporting requirements under the rule.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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