Carriers in recent years have increasingly relied on code sharing but no more. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has ordered airlines to identify the actual carriers for an entire route before tickets are bought.
The DOT announced that airlines and travel web sites in the future have to modify their sites to clearly identify the airlines that will serve the passengers under code sharing agreements.
Anyone who has flown for business or leisure in the United States in the last few years probably has experienced what the airline industry calls “code share.”
It happens when an airline sells passengers a ticket but books a portion of the journey on a small regional operator or another large airline, often without telling passengers. Carriers have increasingly relied on code sharing to branch out to new markets without investing in extra planes and staff.
“When passengers buy an airline ticket, they have the right to know which airline will be operating their flight," DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The DOT order clarifies provisions of a law adopted last summer after a regional jet crashed in 2009 near Buffalo, killing all 49 aboard and one person on the ground. The turboprop plane was operated by Colgan Air, a regional carrier working with Continental Airlines Inc. Investigators largely blamed crew error for the crash.
Although airline officials insist that pilot training and working conditions are the same for large airlines and regional carriers, backers of the law say passengers should know before buying a ticket on which airline they would be flying, according to the LA Times.
By David Wilkening
