NEWSROOM |
|
|
|
|||
By Mike Mitchell |
||||
January 19, 2010 - “Our fare advertising rules are designed to ensure that consumers know how much they will pay for a ticket and are able to compare prices when choosing which carrier to fly,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
“We expect airlines to comply with our rules and will continue to take
enforcement action when necessary.” |
||||
Under DOT
rules, all fares published by airlines must include the full price to be
paid by consumers, with the only exceptions being government taxes and
fees that are assessed on a per-passenger basis. Because the excise tax
is based on a percentage of the ticket price and is not a per-passenger
charge, DOT rules require that it be incorporated into the advertised
fare.
This is the second
penalty against United for price advertising violations within the past
five months. On Aug. 25, 2009, DOT fined United $75,000 for failing to
provide appropriate notice of taxes and fees at the first point a fare
was advertised on its website, and for publishing each-way fares without
making it clear that they were available only for a roundtrip flight. At
that time, United was required to pay $37,500 of the penalty
immediately, with the rest payable if the carrier violated the price
advertising rules again within one year. As a result of this most recent
violation, United was required to pay the additional $37,500.
United Airlines traces its claim to be the oldest commercial airline in
the |
In 1927, airplane pioneer William Boeing founded his own airline, Boeing
Air Transport, and began buying other airmail carriers, including
Varney's. Within four years, Boeing's holdings grew to include airlines,
airplane and parts manufacturing companies, and several airports. In
1929, the company changed its name to United Aircraft and Transport
Corp. (UATC). In 1930, as the capacity of airplanes proved sufficient to
carry not only mail but also passengers, Boeing Air Transport hired a
registered nurse, Ellen Church, to assist passengers. United claims
Church as the first airline stewardess. On May 7, 1930, UATC completed
the acquisition of National Air Transport Inc, a large carrier based in
Following the Air Mail scandal of 1930, the Air Mail Act of 1934 banned
the common ownership of manufacturers and airlines. UATC's President
Philip G. Johnson was forced to resign and moved to Trans-Canada
Airlines, the future Air
United's early route system, formed by connecting U.S. air mail routes,
operated east-to-west along a transcontinental route from New York City
via Chicago and Salt Lake City to San Francisco, as well as
north-and-south along the West Coast. The early interconnections during
this era became the basis of major United hubs in
On the night of October 11, 1933, a United Boeing 247 exploded in
mid-air and crashed near
During World War II, United-trained ground crews modified airplanes for
use as bombers, and transported mail, material, and passengers in
support of the war effort. Post-war United benefited from both the
wartime development of new airplane technologies (like the pressurized
cabin which permitted planes to fly above the weather) and a boom in
customer demand for air travel. This was also the period in which Pan
American Airways established a
On November 1, 1955, United Airlines Flight 629, which was flying from
Stapleton Airport in Denver to Portland, Oregon, was bombed, killing
everyone on board the Douglas DC-6B aircraft. The bomb was planted by
Jack Graham who placed the device in his mother's luggage with the
intent of collecting on her life insurance policy. Graham was arrested,
tried, and was executed a year after the explosion.
United merged with Capital Airlines on June 1, 1961, making it the
world's largest commercial airline and giving it a route network
covering the entire United States. In 1968 the company reorganized,
creating UAL Corporation, with United Airlines as a wholly owned
subsidiary.
United Airlines has the distinction of being the only commercial airline
to have operated Executive One, the designation given to a civilian
flight which the U.S. President is aboard. On December 23, 1973, then
President Richard Nixon flew as a passenger aboard a United DC-10 flight
from Washington Dulles to
United had begun to seek overseas routes in the 1960s, but the
Transpacific Route Case (1969) denied them this expansion. It did not
gain an overseas route until 1983, when they began flights to
In May 1981, one week after rival American Airlines launched AAdvantage,
the first modern frequent flyer program, United launched its Mileage
Plus. In 1982, United became the launch carrier for the Boeing 767,
taking its first delivery of 767-200s on August 19.
On May 17, 1985, United's pilots went on a 29-day strike claiming the
CEO, Richard Ferris, was trying to "break the unions." They used
management's proposed "B-scale" pilot pay rates as proof. American
Airlines already had a non-merging B-scale for its pilots. Ferris
insisted United had to have pilot costs no higher than American's, so he
offered United pilots a "word-for-word" contract to match American's, or
the same bottom line numbers. The United ALPA-MEC rejected that offer.
The only choice left, to achieve parity with American's pilot costs, was
to begin a B-scale for United's new-hire pilots.
Ferris wanted that B-scale to merge in the captain's ranks, which was
more generous than American's B-scale, that never merged at all. But,
the ALPA MEC insisted they merge in the new pilot's sixth-year with the
airline. In the final hours before the strike, nearly all issues had
been resolved, except for the time length of the B-scale. It appeared
that would be resolved too as negotiations continued. ALPA negotiators
delivered a new counter-proposal at 12:20 A.M. in an effort to avoid the
strike. However, MEC Chairman Roger Hall, who was hosting a national
teleconference from the Odeum (a convention center in the
Moments before the ALPA announced strike deadline, they began a
"countdown of the final 30 seconds from |
©AvStop Online Magazine Contact Us Return To News |
|