The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is co-leading a coalition of 34 attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to strengthen protections for airline consumers and provide meaningful relief when flights are unexpectedly canceled or significantly delayed.
In the letter, the attorneys general urge the USDOT to adopt new framework, ensuring their concerns are addressed promptly and clearer protocols are developed to ensure timely and effective enforcement. Recommendations in the letter include the following:
- USDOT should require airlines to advertise and sell only flights that they have adequate personnel to fly and support and perform regular audits of airlines to ensure compliance and impose fines on airlines that do not comply;
- USDOT should make clear that it will impose significant fines for cancellations and extended delays that are not weather-related or otherwise unavoidable;
- USDOT should prohibit airlines from canceling flights while upselling consumers more expensive alternative flights to the same destinations; and
- USDOT should require that credits and vouchers for future travel provided by airlines be used easily without inappropriate limitations.
Joining Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, New York, Alaska, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.