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Allegiant Airlines
Fined For Violating DOT’s New Price Advertising Rule By Eddy Metcalf |
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February 18, 2012 - The U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) fined Allegiant Air $100,000 for
violating DOT’s new advertising rule, which became
effective on January 26, which requires carriers and
ticket agents to show the total price, including all
government taxes and fees, in every advertised fare. In
addition, Allegiant Air violated DOT’s rules protecting
air travelers with disabilities.
“We adopted our rules on reporting of disability
complaints and advertising of airfares to protect
consumers,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood. “Protecting the rights of airline passengers is
a high priority for DOT, and we will take enforcement
action when our rules are violated.” Under DOT’s rule, carriers must sort disability-related complaints into categories based on the type of disability and nature of the complaint and submit an annual report to the Department on disability complaints received the previous year. Each issue raised in a complaint must be recorded separately to account for the total number of complaints a carrier receives. |
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The
Department compiles carrier reports, publishes them on the
Internet for consumers to compare, and submits them to Congress
as required by law.
In addition, if an airline receives a written complaint alleging
a violation of the Department’s disability rules, the carrier
must provide a written response within 30 days that specifically
discusses the complaint, gives the carrier’s view of whether a
violation occurred, and states that the complaint may be
referred to DOT for an investigation.
The
Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office reviewed a sample of
the disability-related complaints that Allegiant received
directly from passengers in 2009 and 2010, as well as disability
complaints against Allegiant that the Department received
directly from passengers during 2009 and 2010.
The
Department found that in a number of instances, Allegiant
responded to the complaints through a telephone call rather than
in writing as required by the rule, and that the carrier both
failed to record all of the disability complaints it received
and to properly categorize and account for all the issues that
were raised in the complaints. In addition, the Enforcement Office found that Allegiant violated DOT’s price advertising rule by posting offers on its homepage for free flights to Las Vegas and Tampa Bay, Fla. The banner for the Las Vegas ads did not indicate that taxes and fees would be extra. |