FINES UPDATE
August 21, 2014
In addition to those noted above, the below additional fines have recently been issued by DOT:
Delta Air Lines, Inc. – $100,000
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) was fined $100,000 for violating the Department’s advertising rules. Under those rules, Delta is required to clearly and conspicuously note the disclosure of a roundtrip purchase requirement prominently and in close proximity to the each way fare amount. From November 2012 to February 2014, Delta had advertised “Fare Specials” for each way fares that required a roundtrip purchase. DOT determined that Delta did not clearly and conspicuously note this requirement prominently and proximately, and thus violated DOT advertising requirements.
Alaska Airlines, Inc. – $150,000
Alaska Airlines, Inc. was fined $150,000 for violating DOT’s codeshare disclosure rules. Air carriers are required to disclose in all advertisements the name of the air carrier providing a passenger’s air transportation prior to the purchase of a ticket. Where one or more of the flights at issue is operated by a codeshare partner, the existence of a code-share arrangement must be disclosed. In late 2013, an investigation by DOT’s enforcement office revealed that for flights operated by its sister carriers and regional partners, Alaska Airlines’ reservation agents did not identify the corporate name of the carrier operating these flights, or any other name under which the flight was operated. DOT determined that this practice violated its codeshare disclosure requirements.
Skywest Airlines – $295,750
The FAA has proposed a fine of $295,750 against Skywest Airlines for allegedly violating FAA drug and alcohol testing requirements. According to the FAA, Skywest allegedly failed to include more than 150 safety sensitive employees in a random drug testing pool, hired two employees before verifying they passed their drug tests, and allegedly improperly subjected three employees to drug tests that they should not have been subjected to. Skywest is set to meet with the FAA later this month to discuss these allegations.