DOT

(Dive Travel Business News - May 17, 2011) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's new proposal on the disclosure of airlines' ancillary fees through global distribution systems will likely not be announced until next year. However, a draft of the rule is expected to be sent to the Office of Management and Budget in August and will be evaluated until the end of the year.

The U.S. Department of Transportation does not expect to publicly reveal before January 2012 a new proposal on airlines' disclosure of optional service fees through global distribution systems. According to a DOT update issued last week, a public comment period following that Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would extend until June 2012. read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - July 14, 2010) -- A U.S. House of Representatives hearing hosted by the US Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Aviation will be held today that focuses on the proliferation and disclosure of ancillary airline fees.  The hearing comes about four weeks before the close of a public comment period on a related set of rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Among other things, the proposed DOT rules would require carriers to provide GDSs with information about bag fees and optional services fees. Proposed rules also include details on tarmac delay regulations and data, disclosure of customer service plans, consumer problem rectification, oversales and advertising "full" fares.

"The proliferation of ancillary fees over a relatively short period of time has raised concerns over the costs and transparency of such fees," according to the subcommittee. "Often, consumers are not entirely aware of the range of fees that they may encounter in the ticket booking process, at check-in and at the gate." read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - June 9, 2010) -- Just months after the US Department of Transportation  (DOT) dealt with lengthy on-ground flight delays with new tarmac rules,  DOT Secretary Ray LaHood has released a new round of consumer-friendly airline rules. If adopted, this newest set of airline regulations would:

• Force smaller airports and international air carriers to adopt contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays;
• Make airlines give passenger more information on delays;
• Foreign airlines would become subject to the same ground delay data reporting and disclosure rules as U.S. carriers;
• Establish of minimum standards for carriers’ customer service plans and extend the customer service plan requirements to cover foreign carriers;
• Change airline policies on denied boarding compensation, also known as involuntary bumping, to increase minimum compensation, add inflation adjustment, and offer more information to passengers about the policies

(DiveTravelNewswire.com - Oct 12, 2009) - Airlines may not arbitrarily limit compensation for passengers who purchase necessities because their baggage is lost or delayed, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a newly issued notice.

In its notice, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office said that a number of carriers have policies stating that they will reimburse passengers only for buying necessities purchased more than 24 hours after arrival and limiting such reimbursements to the outbound legs of trips. This is in violation of DOT regulations which require that airlines cover all expenses caused by lost or delayed baggage up to $3,300 per passenger on domestic flights, DOT said.

“Travelers should not have to pay for toiletries or other necessities while they wait for baggage misplaced by airlines,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We expect airlines to comply with all of our regulations and will take enforcement action if they do not.” read more »

(May 16, 2008 - Travel Weekly) -- The Department of Transportation will begin requiring airlines and travel agents to disclose fees for checking a second bag in their Internet and print ads and before anyone purchases a ticket.

All of the U.S. hub-and-spoke carriers have begun charging coach passengers a $25 fee for checking a second bag.

Fee disclosure for second bags was one of two new consumer-protection rules addressed today by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. She also said the DOT issued a final rule to require airlines to report new and more complete data on the time passengers spend on the tarmac. Peters said that in the past, airlines sometimes did not have to disclose how long aircraft were delayed after leaving the gate.

The new rule will require airlines to provide complete on-time and tarmac delay data about flights that may depart from a gate more than once, flights that are canceled after having left the gate and flights that are diverted to another airport.

“Passengers should know whether it will take as long for their flight to get to the runway as it will to land at their destination,” Peters said. read more »