US: As federal fines for airlines go down, will passenger dissatisfaction go up?
What if airlines could do almost anything they wanted, knowing that they would probably get away with it? As 2018 comes to a close, critics say that’s already the case. The reason? Lax govt regulation. The Aviation Consumer Protection Division of the DoT, which enforces federal consumer protection regulations, has issued only 16 consent orders totaling US$1.8 m in civil penalties this year. This compares with 18 consent orders totaling $3.1m in civil penalties by this time in 2017, which, in turn, was less than half the dollar amount of fines issued in 2016. “The DoT has turned its back on complaints that most Americans find meritorious,” says Ben Edelman, a Harvard Business School professor and aviation rights activist. The govt is on track to issue the lowest number of fines in a decade. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-11-30/general/us-as-federal-fines-for-airlines-go-down-will-passenger-dissatisfaction-go-up
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US: As federal fines for airlines go down, will passenger dissatisfaction go up?
What if airlines could do almost anything they wanted, knowing that they would probably get away with it? As 2018 comes to a close, critics say that’s already the case. The reason? Lax govt regulation. The Aviation Consumer Protection Division of the DoT, which enforces federal consumer protection regulations, has issued only 16 consent orders totaling US$1.8 m in civil penalties this year. This compares with 18 consent orders totaling $3.1m in civil penalties by this time in 2017, which, in turn, was less than half the dollar amount of fines issued in 2016. “The DoT has turned its back on complaints that most Americans find meritorious,” says Ben Edelman, a Harvard Business School professor and aviation rights activist. The govt is on track to issue the lowest number of fines in a decade. <br/>
