department of transportation

Tag Archives for department of transportation.

Failed United Miles Transfer Sparks DOT Showdown: Airline Says Tough Luck, IT Issues Are Customer’s Problem

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Apr 24 2024

Last month a Chase Ultimate Rewards member transferred their points to United, in order to book an award that showed as available at United.com, but wasn’t really available. United wouldn’t send his points back to Chase, and he complained to the Department of Transportation that this was an unfair and deceptive practice. They needed 193,000 more miles than they had in their account. United’s website suggested they buy the miles. They transferred the points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards instead. The award space for business class travel on EVA Air from Chicago to Singapore via Taipei turned out to be phantom and unbookable. The website errored out after they transferred the points. While the space still showed up online, a phone agent said the space wasn’t available and also that they couldn’t send their points…

Continue Reading »

8 Things To Know About New Government Rules For Airline Fees (That You Won’t Find Anywhere Else)

by Gary Leff

Apr 24 2024

The federal government has issued a final rule for how airlines disclose their fees, and requiring prompt refund of fees when they don’t provide the promised service.

It largely will not change how most passengers experience airlines most of the time. Airlines already disclose their fees, and generally provide refunds for services they don’t provide. There will be a stronger requirement, though, to refund checked bag fees for long-delayed and lost bags.

Continue Reading »

American Airlines Bumps Passenger Off Flight, Agent Says They “Do Not Care About DOT Rules”

by Gary Leff

Apr 16 2024

Michael Trager, who runs frequent traveler and casino loyalty site TravelZork, had one of the most interesting “bump” stories I’ve heard in a long time. He was involuntarily denied boarding on an American Airlines flight last week, and airport staff refused to provide him any compensation saying that they “do not care about DOT Rules.”

Continue Reading »

Small City Air Subsidies Were Supposed To End In 1988. Instead, Congress Is About To Triple Them.

by Gary Leff

Mar 29 2024

The Essential Air Service program was created in the late 1970s as a temporary measure to soften the blow of deregulation. It provided for a ’10 year transition’ period in which small community service could receive subsidies. And it’s the perfect example of the old axiom that there’s nothing as permanent in life as a temporary government program. The program was supposed to end in 1988.

Instead, the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill includes a tripling of funding for the program going forward.

Continue Reading »

Southwest’s $140 Million Penalty: The Scary Truth No One Should Be Happy About

by Gary Leff

Dec 18 2023

The Department of Transportation has settled with Southwest Airlines over its meltdown last Christmas, with the airline agreeing to a $140 million penalty (but not really). It took DOT a year to deal with this. Customers who were inconvenienced in the mess do not get anything from this. And Southwest Airlines doesn’t deserve it in any case.

Continue Reading »

Airline Battle Royale: The Fight for Tokyo’s Coveted Haneda Slot

by Gary Leff

united planes runway
Nov 17 2023

United Airlines has attacked the American Airlines plan, saying that the DOT should look at connections served rather than the local market to determine consumer benefit. Now that the federal government has broken up its JetBlue partnership, American’s ability to serve connections in the New York market is far more limited. The Department of Justice handed a huge win to United and to Delta in New York by preventing American-JetBlue from becoming a large competitor with their New York duopoly.

According to United, DOT set a precedent in preferring connecting markets to Tokyo Haneda over non-stop ones in their 2019 proceeding originally awarding the routes since that was a justification for denying Las Vegas a Haneda flight.

Continue Reading »

Slot Controversy: How U.S. Airlines Compete for Tokyo’s Prime Real Estate

by Gary Leff

Nov 10 2023

In the battle for limited takeoff and landing slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, U.S. airlines like Delta, American, and United vied for positions, with Delta receiving the most slots despite not having a Japanese airline partner. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) now faces decisions on slot reallocations, as Delta relinquishes its Portland-Tokyo route and other airlines propose routes that overlap with their joint venture partners, raising questions about competition and consumer benefit.

Continue Reading »

A Record 75,000 Consumers Filed Complaints That Major Airlines Took Over DOT To Quash Competition

by Gary Leff

Oct 14 2023

The FAA’s docket on public charter regulation advocated by American Airlines and Southwest Airlines has closed.

So far over 58,000 public comments have been posted to Regulations.gov. JSX says the number of submitted comments is 76,000 (there is a lag in posting comments to the web). Already it’s the most comments ever received on a Department of Transportation or FAA proposed rule. Drones topped 50,000. Emotional support animals topped 15,000. Usually there are just a handful.

Continue Reading »