CEO giving his seat on a flight to a desperate mom, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has reported a civil penalty against Delta for violating federal rules protecting passengers who are denied boarding against their will, or “bumped,” on oversold flights.
In the same day that Delta Air Lines got great PR out of the story of its
The DOT fined Delta $750,000 and ordered the airline to cease and desist from further violations. The agency reported the violation and the fine on June 26.
“Airline passengers deserve to be treated fairly, especially if they are forced to miss a flight because an airline oversold seats,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Consumers have rights, and we will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate our rules to protect the traveling public.”
DOT regulations mandate that the airline look for volunteers willing to give up their seats for compensation on oversold flights. Only when there are not enough volunteers is the airline allowed to bump passengers involuntarily. Passengers are also entitled to a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the airline decides whom it will bump first.
The DOT said that in most cases, passengers bumped involuntarily also are entitled to cash compensation of up to $1,300 depending on the value of their tickets and the length of time that passengers are delayed. The larger U.S. airlines also have to file quarterly reports with the DOT on the number of passengers who were bumped involuntarily from oversold flights as well as those who agreed voluntarily to give up their seats.
In March 2012, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office found that in a number of instances, Delta didn’t ask for volunteers before bumping passengers involuntarily, or bumped passengers involuntarily without providing them a written notice describing their rights or informing them that they had a right to cash compensation.
Delta also classified some passengers who were bumped involuntarily as having volunteered to give up their seats, which both violated the passengers’ rights to compensation and resulted in inaccurate bumping reports filed with DOT. Delta also violated its published customer commitment, which included a pledge to obey DOT’s bumping regulations.
The DOT said that Delta can use up to $425,000 of the penalty to buy electronic tablets to record consumers’ decisions on whether they agreed to leave a flight and accept compensation offered by the airline, as well to train Delta personnel on using the tablets. The data collected can be used to help correct any problems the airline may have in complying with the bumping rules.
This is the second time Delta has had its hand slapped for violating the bumping rules in the past four years. On July 9, 2009, the airline was fined $375,000 for violations similar to those included in the June 26 consent order.
George Hobica, founder of AirFareWatchDog recommends passengers who don’t want to risk getting bumped fly JetBlue. Hobica said on his site that JetBlue refuses to overbook as a matter of policy and that consequently, it has the best track record for not bumping passengers in the U.S.