US lawmakers seek to crack down on airlines over canceled flights


In a summer marked by mounting frustration over tens of thousands of canceled flights, Representatives Jan Schakowsky and David Cicilline said their proposal would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general new powers to ‘stock.

“There is an urgent need to strengthen law enforcement in the airline industry,” Ms. Schakowsky said. “The airline industry must be held accountable for the harm it causes: missed life events, time separated from family and friends, and the stress of navigating a travel system that does not put consumers first. plan.”

The measure would repeal an exemption that passenger airlines enjoy from FTC oversight under a 1958 law. aviation sector.

Some lawmakers have said the Department of Transportation (USDOT) already has the authority to issue fines to airlines that knowingly cancel flights due to foreseeable staffing issues, citing USDOT’s authority to investigate to determine whether airlines are engaged in “unfair or deceptive practices” or “unfair competitive practices”.

In June, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Alex Padilla and

Richard Blumenthal wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the FTC asking them to investigate “major airlines to ensure they are not engaging in unfair and exploitative business practices.”

Last week, Democratic Senators Edward Markey, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and Blumenthal, along with nearly 20 House of Representatives lawmakers, introduced a bill to provide consumers with an “enforceable right to full cash reimbursement for cancellations of flights and tickets”.

Last month, Warren and Padilla urged Buttigieg to impose fines on airlines that delay or cancel flights due to staffing or operational issues “to change the calculus of airlines harming consumers to inflate their own profit”.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others, said Tuesday that “carriers strive to provide a seamless travel experience and do everything possible – including reducing summer hours by 16 percent and increasing hiring initiatives – to meet the rapid and unexpected recovery in air travel demand.

Mr Buttigieg, who met airline CEOs virtually in June to demand better performance, told Reuters on Monday that the airlines had improved but still had room for improvement. He also indicated that the minister was proposing a series of consumer protection rules.



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