DOT Secretary Praised For Leadership, Pushed For Transparency
In Fees
Consumer and travel groups
including the Consumer Travel Alliance, the National Consumers
League, and the Business Travel Coalition met with U.S. Secretary
of Transportation Ray LaHood (pictured) Monday to offer their
support for his efforts to require transparency in airline ticket
pricing. Participants in the meeting presented Secretary LaHood
with a letter from organizations representing more than 300 U.S.
and Europe consumer groups urging the mandatory disclosure of all
airline fees.
"Airline passengers have rights and should be able to expect
fair and reasonable treatment when they fly," U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood told the group. "We're proposing to strengthen
consumer protections and raise the bar for airlines when it comes
to treating passengers fairly. I appreciate the views of consumers
and hope they will continue to weigh in on this important
issue."
"We greatly appreciate Secretary LaHood's leadership in
protecting the rights of air travelers," said Charlie Leocha,
Director of the Consumer Travel Alliance, following the meeting.
"Without fee transparency, it is impossible for air travelers to
know the full cost of their flights or compare prices among various
airlines. Hidden airlines fees have inspired nationwide anger among
air travelers, and we commend the Secretary for his efforts to fix
the problem."
The letter said, in part:
"Rather than calling for regulation of the amount of these fees,
we are simply asking for true fee transparency. Hidden fees are a
violation of a traveler's most basic right: to know how much they
will have to pay for their trip. When two out of every three air
travelers say they have been surprised by hidden fees at the
airport, you know the current system is broken and needs to be
fixed.
"Airlines should have to share their fees with every traveler,
through every ticketing channel in which they participate, to every
point of sale. With the airline world of fees so complex with so
many variations on each fee, this is the only way consumers can
compare prices on the total cost of travel.
"The airlines have every right to make a fair profit and set
fares and fees that allow them to do so. But they have no right to
try to hide those prices from their customers."
In addition to Leocha, participants in the meeting included
Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers
League; Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition;
Karoline Mayr, Director of Global Travel Procurement for Deltek,
Inc.; and Anjum Malik, an airline consumer. Joining the U.S.
consumer groups that signed the letter was the European Passengers'
Federation.
FMI: www.consumertravelalliance.org,
www.dot.gov