Released: October 01, 2016

Consumer groups support legislation to protect airline travelers

Coalition outlines seven consumer protection principles

Contact: See end of release.

WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump has proclaimed this week as National Consumer Protection Week, saying it is “an opportunity for Americans to learn about their consumer rights.” Consumer groups and advocates including the Business Travel Coalition, Travelers United, Ed Perkins, National Consumers League and Consumer Action support a timely legislative proposal by U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) that would help protect consumer interests. In addition, the consumer groups have outlined seven principles to guide badly needed airline consumer protections.

“Now that U.S. airlines have secured their antitrust-immunized global alliances and joint ventures, and massively consolidated the domestic U.S. airline industry to just four carriers controlling more than 80 percent of domestic seat capacity, they have been forcefully endeavoring to maintain their monopoly market positions and record-setting industry profits by impeding competition and reducing consumer choice,” stated Business Travel Coalition founder Kevin Mitchell.

“Consumer protection for U.S. airline travelers is greatly in need of an overhaul and Senator Collins gets that. At a time when more people than ever are flying, we need more transparency, competition and accountability from the big airlines—not less!” said Linda Sherry, national priorities director for Consumer Action.

The White House said that “The Trump administration has put the focus of consumer protection back where it belongs: on protecting consumers and enabling them to make better decisions for themselves.” However, in order to make those decisions, travelers need access to basic, public information on fares, fees and ancillary services—the very information Trump's DOT has decided is not important to share with potential travellers.

Some U.S. airlines have been seeking to withhold and restrict the discovery by consumers of airfare, schedule and availability information presented by metasearch platforms and some online travel sites. These airlines have reduced consumer choice by making it exceedingly more difficult to comparison shop for the best flight at the lowest price in a transparent, simple way.

The coalition of consumer groups endorses Senator Collins’s legislation to ensure that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) resumes a now-suspended Request for Information that had illuminated an airline practice of withholding travel information that is inherently anti-competitive, harmful to consumers and not in the public interest. (See footnote.)

Seven Principles to Guide Airline Consumer Protections

1. Transparency. Travelers should be able to compare prices and purchase all of the services they will need for their flights at the time of booking, including ancillary services. Travelers (or their agents) should be able to see all of the options and fees available for a flight before travel is booked, so they can make informed decisions during the booking process.
2. Choice. Travelers should be able to compare prices and services among a broad range of airlines at the travel resource of their choice, and be able to compare base fares and ancillary services with the base fares and services from other airlines that sell through the same distribution channel. Choice should be driven by the traveler’s needs, and the traveler should be able to compare, contrast and choose the supplier that best meets those needs.
3. Competition. Travelers should have access to a robust and competitive marketplace of airlines and other travel suppliers who compete for their business on a level playing field. Both anonymous and self-identified travelers should be able to compare their full range of options among airlines. The decision of a traveler not to self-identify should not result in a penalty for the traveler on price, convenience or services offered. 
4. Innovation. Innovation is driven by competition, and travelers should have a broad range of options to book their travel, ranging from airlines to online travel companies, corporate travel departments and traditional travel agencies. Each of those organizations should be able to choose and develop the technologies that best meet its needs, so long as those systems do not interfere with open, transparent pricing and consumer choice.
5. Privacy. Travelers should be able to shop anonymously across the full range of fares and services offered by airlines. No traveler should be forced to provide personal information to receive lower prices or information on available services offered. Customization should be at the request of the traveler, not at the demand of the supplier, and travel suppliers should allow travelers to decide which additional services they would like to receive, if any, whether traveling on business or for leisure with their families.
6. Accountability. Airline contracts should not be so one-sided as to isolate airlines from accountability. Travelers should be guaranteed an appropriate mix of refunds and compensation in the event of delays, cancellations, mishandled baggage and other flight irregularities.
7. Consideration. Travelers should be entitled to basic consideration when real-life travel situations arise. Families should be seated together without having to pay more for the accommodation. Fees for changing tickets should bear a reasonable relationship to costs and not be set at punitive levels.

“When Congress passes laws, DOT has the responsibility to get the rules written and the laws put into effect. Today, families are still being asked to pay extra to sit with their toddlers and baggage fees are still being collected when checked baggage is not delivered together with a passenger’s flight,” stated Travelers United president Charlie Leocha. “Both issues have been legislated by Congress more than 18 months ago. These laws are not in effect because of unacceptable DOT delays,” added Leocha.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Kevin Mitchell (Business Travel Coalition), [email protected], 610-999-9249

John Breyault (National Consumers League), [email protected], 202-207-2819

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Consumer Action), [email protected], 202-544-3088

Charlie Leocha (Travelers United),  [email protected], 202-713-9596 

 

Footnote:

S1655: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018, (Sec. 106). Lifts the suspension of the comment period imposed by DOT on its Request for Information titled "Exploring Industry Practices on Distribution and Display of Airline Fare, Schedule and Availability Information." Requires DOT to accept additional public comment for 30 days after enactment of this bill.