The Transportation Department (DOT)
has hit JetBlue Airways with a civil penalty for violating rules protecting air
travelers with disabilities and for failing to disclose when the flights it sold were being operated under a code-sharing arrangement.
The penalty totals $600,000, of which $350,000 must be paid
by the carrier. As much as $250,000 of that may be used to improve 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 Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Disability rules
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 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 DOT.
Code sharing
As part of the DOT probe, 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.
Care center
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.
