For the third time this year, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has assessed civil penalties on an airline for failing to provide information about its on-time arrivals when asked by consumers.
Delta was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $115,000. This action follows similar actions on against Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
Hawaiian was assessed a civil penalty of $50,000 and JetBlue was assessed a $30,000 civil penalty.
“An important part of our effort to minimize the impact of flight delays on consumers is making sure they have the best available information about delays,” said US Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.
Airlines that report on-time performance to DOT – currently 20 large passenger carriers – must provide on-time arrival statistics when requested by passengers.
After receiving information that some carriers were failing to provide consumers on-time arrival information of flights, the Enforcement Office launched an investigation that involved several hundred test calls to the reporting carriers.
The Delta order also covers violations by several Delta Connection carriers – Comair, Atlantic Southeast Airlines and SkyWest Airlines – for which Delta provides reservation services. The Enforcement Office is continuing to investigate other carriers.
The DOT had no immediate answer why airlines are reluctant to provide the data.
Report by David Wilkening
