Within a few weeks, Pete Buttigieg will most likely be confirmed as secretary of Transportation. No matter how high he may rise in politics, I suspect he will always be known as “Mayor Pete,” and Mayor Pete’s department will have a lot to say about your future air travels.
In preparation for the new DoT administration, most of the nation’s consumer advocate heavy hitters are developing lists of priorities for future DoT actions to advance consumer interests. Although not a heavy hitter, myself, I’ve been encouraged to submit such a list. Along with most others, my list is focused on actions that DoT is legally able to take on its own, without the need for any new legislation or participation by any other Washington agency.
1. Clearly, the top priority is a rule that requires airlines to seat families together without imposing seat-assignment fees. The outgoing DoT ignored a congressional directive to institute such a rule, and I presume that the new DoT can and will remedy that deficiency quickly.
2. My number two priority is playing defense: making sure DoT does not bow to big-airline pressure and throw out existing protections. The two most vulnerable protections are the requirement for full-cost fare advertising and the rule that fines airlines for excessive tarmac delays.
3. Nothing is more critical to reviving travel than coping with COVID-19. Airlines and airports need a strong federal mandate — with teeth — for passengers to wear face masks at airports and in flight. Airlines and airports need legal backing to strengthen their own efforts.
More Top Picks Best Quiet Bathroom Exhaust Fans
4. When you buy an airline ticket, you agree to abide with your airline’s contract of carriage, which includes some requirements that are extremely unfair to consumers. DoT needs to require fairness in contracts, most notably regarding two items:
—Contracts should include a force majeure exemption that would require full cash refunds to consumers on all nonrefundable tickets.
—Contract language requiring travelers to waive basic legal rights should be declared either invalid or unenforceable. Specifically, this applies to requirements for mandatory arbitration and prohibition of participation in class action suits.
5. Compensation and refund rules for travelers when airlines failure to deliver as promised should be updated and expanded:
—Denied boarding (“bumping”) fee schedules should not only be updated, per law, but should also be extended to causes other than overbooking.
—Waiver of baggage-check fees for delayed bags should kick in any time a checked bag doesn’t arrive on a passenger’s scheduled flight. That’s when the hassle of a delayed bag sets in, not just after 24 hours.
6. Just about all consumer advocates call for “transparency” in fee display, but it’s not at all clear exactly what a mandate for more fare transparency would include. In my view, the question of what costs should be included in any fare posting and comparison is really up to the metasearch folks — something that DoT can’t mandate. The only concrete fee action DoT should take right now is to enforce the “fair and reasonable” requirements on foreign airlines’ exorbitant ticket-change fees. Since the U.S. big three lines have dropped their own change fees, they shouldn’t oppose a mandate for foreign lines to follow.
There are, of course many other transportation issues facing DoT. One of the most pressing is what to do with Amtrak — and with passenger rail transportation, nationally. I don’t have the answers; I suspect the best place to start would be some kind of blue-ribbon commission to develop practical ideas. Also, several of my colleagues are proposing re-grounding of the 737 MAX. But other advocates I know do not agree with this proposal, so it will probably not get into the final list.
And, of course, not all important consumer travel issues fall within the purview of DoT. By all odds, the most egregious deception facing travelers today is the mandatory resort, facility, and other such fees that hotels split out so they can post phony low-ball rates on comparison websites. Maybe someone will light a firecracker at the moribund Federal Trade Commission.
Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at [email protected]. Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.
(c)2021 Ed Perkins.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.