Carrier Assessed $600,000, Nearly Half Must Go To Improving
Accessibility For The Disabled
The U.S. DOT assessed a civil penalty against JetBlue Airways on
Monday for violating rules protecting air travelers with
disabilities and for failing to disclose when flights sold by the
carrier were being operated under a code-sharing arrangement. The
carrier was assessed a civil penalty of $600,000, of which $350,000
must be paid by the carrier and up to $250,000 may be used to
improve its service to disabled passengers beyond what is required
by law.
"We expect airlines to treat their passengers fairly, and we
will not hesitate to take enforcement action when carriers fail to
respect their rights," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood.
DOT's rules implementing the Air Carrier Access Act
require airlines to provide assistance to passengers with
disabilities in boarding and deplaning aircraft, including the use
of wheelchairs, ramps, mechanical lifts or service personnel where
needed. Carriers also must respond within 30 days to written
complaints about their treatment of disabled passengers and
specifically address the issues raised in each complaint. In
addition, airlines must also submit annual reports to the
Department on disability-related complaints from passengers, noting
for each complaint the type of disability and the nature of the
complaint.
Following a visit to JetBlue's headquarters in March, DOT's
Aviation Enforcement Office reviewed complaints about the treatment
of passengers with disabilities filed with the carrier and with
DOT. The complaints revealed a number of violations of the
requirement to provide enplaning and deplaning assistance. In
addition, the Enforcement Office found that the carrier frequently
did not provide an adequate written response to complaints from
disabled passengers and that it failed to properly categorize
disability complaints in reports filed with the Department.
In addition, the Enforcement Office made a number of telephone
calls to JetBlue's reservation line and found that the carrier's
agents failed to disclose that flights sold by the carrier were
being operated by Cape Air, a JetBlue code-share affiliate. DOT
rules require airlines to disclose to consumers, before they book a
flight, if the flight is operated under a code-sharing arrangement
under which a carrier will sell tickets on flights that use its
designator code but are operated by a different airline. The
disclosure must include the corporate name of the transporting
carrier and any other name under which the flight is offered to the
public.
Of the $600,000 penalty, up to $250,000 may be used to establish
a task force to audit the carrier's handling of passengers with
disabilities, to create a disability customer care center that will
reach out to disabled passengers prior to travel and serve as an
information resource for them, and to enhance the carrier's website
to improve its information for travelers with disabilities. The
actual cost of these improvements is substantially greater than
$250,000.