Mexico: Baggage-fee ban flouted by airlines in test of resolve

Mexico is trying to crack down on airline fees and flight delays. The carriers are having none of it. Mexico’s consumer-protection agency fined five airlines including JetBlue a combined 22.4m pesos ($1.27m) for alleged transgressions such as charging fliers for their first checked bag. The entity, not known for taking on major corporations, is also monitoring whether airlines comply with a new requirement to compensate passengers when flights have major delays. The question is whether Profeco, as the regulator is known, can make the fines stick -- and defeat a legal challenge by the airlines in Mexican courts. The carriers are still charging for luggage on flights to the US and Canada, saying an international treaty supersedes the new laws. The companies declined to say if they’ve paid any levies Profeco has assessed. That makes Mexico City the latest front in the clash between passengers’ rights and airline fees. “This case is pitting the airlines’ economic freedom to do business against a large part of the population that uses these services,” said Julio Salazar, the legal director at Power to the Consumer, an advocacy organization that supports the effort to restrict the fees. “A4A has engaged with both Mexican and U.S. government officials to express our concerns on the effect of the new regulations regarding checked baggage fees on the US-Mexico air services agreement,” said Kathy Allen, an A4A spokeswoman. “We remain committed to ensuring that the rights of US carriers are being honoured.”<br/>