DOT Fines Air China and FlightHub Group
AIRPORT V 14 OICE, FEBRUARY 2022
Violates Aviation Consumer Protection Rules
The U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT or Department)
took action to protect aviation
consumers by issuing fines
to an airline and an online ticket
agent for violating federal statutes
and the Department’s aviation
consumer protection rules.
DOT fined the airline Air China
$300,000 for tarmac delay rule
violations and fined ticket agent
FlightHub Group $300,000 for
misrepresentations on its website
and in online advertising.
Both entities were also ordered
to cease and desist from future
similar violations.
“DOT will hold airlines and
ticket agents accountable when
they treat consumers unfairly,”
said U.S. Deputy Transportation
Secretary Polly Trottenberg.
“These fines should serve as
a warning to all airlines and online
ticket agents that the Department
will take enforcement action
against violations of aviation
consumer protection rules.”
An investigation by the Department’s
Office of Aviation
Consumer Protection (OACP)
found that in 2018, Air China allowed
two international flights
to remain on the tarmac at JFK
airport in New York for over five
hours without providing passengers
an opportunity to deplane,
in violation of the Department’s
tarmac delay rule. In January
2018, a flight from Beijing to JFK
containing 192 passengers remained
on the tarmac for five
hours and 18 minutes, and in November
2018, a flight from New
York JFK to Beijing containing
279 passengers remained on the
tarmac for five hours and 21 minutes.
Under the DOT tarmac delay
rule, airlines are generally
prohibited from allowing their international
flights to remain on
the tarmac for more than four
hours at U.S. airports without
giving passengers an opportunity
to leave the plane. Exceptions
exist for safety, security,
or air traffic control-related reasons
and for departure delays
if the airline begins to return the
aircraft to a suitable disembarkation
point to deplane passengers
within the allotted time. The rule
also requires airlines to provide
adequate food and water, ensure
that lavatories are working
and, if necessary, provide medical
attention to passengers during
long tarmac delays. The rule
prohibiting long tarmac delays
for domestic flights took effect
in 2010 and was expanded to include
international flights in 2011.
A separate investigation by
the Department’s OACP found
that FlightHub Group and its
brand JustFly.com violated the
Department’s aviation consumer
protection rules and federal law
prohibiting unfair and deceptive
practices by ticket agents
with misleading online advertising
displays. OACP found that
FlightHub Group advertised
prices for air transportation that
were not available, thus failing to
state the entire price to be paid
for air transportation in advertisements.
In addition, OACP found
that FlightHub Group made misrepresentations
regarding fares,
cancellation charges, and ticket
refunds in connection with air
transportation, and provided inaccurate
information on the applicable
fee for checked baggage
in e-ticket confirmations.
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