DOT Provides Guidance To Airlines On Code Share Disclosure Requirements

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DOT Provides Guidance To Airlines On Code Share Disclosure Requirements By Eddy Metcalf

		January 11, 2011 - Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Aviation Enforcement Office on Monday provided guidance to airlines and ticket agents about the requirement for notifying passengers if a flight they are selling is being operated under a code-sharing arrangement. A recent amendment to section 41712, which has for some time contained a general prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition on the part of air carriers, foreign air carriers and ticket agents. A New section was added, 41712(c) that specifically requires that these entities disclose in any oral, written or electronic communication to the public, prior to the purchase of a ticket, the name of the carrier providing the service for each segment of a passenger’s itinerary.

The language is principally intended to address service rendered pursuant to code-share arrangements. In addition, the new language explicitly requires that on websites, disclosure must be made “on the first display of the Web site following a search of a requested itinerary in a format that is easily visible to a viewer.” Under code-sharing, an airline sells tickets on flights that use the airline’s code, but are actually operated by a different carrier. Longstanding DOT rules require airlines to disclose code-sharing arrangements to consumers before they book a flight, but legislation adopted in August 2010 has also clarified the requirements for Internet websites that sell airline tickets. “When passengers buy an airline ticket, they have the right to know which airline will be operating their flight,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “For years we’ve required airlines to inform consumers about code-sharing arrangements, and we’ll be monitoring the industry closely to make sure they comply with the provisions of the new legislation.” The new law makes it clear that when a consumer requests an airline itinerary on the Internet, any code-sharing arrangement must be included on the same screen and next to the itinerary.

Currently, code-sharing on some websites is being disclosed through a hyperlink or when one passes the cursor over a link. Under the existing Department rules, code-share disclosure must include the corporate name of the transporting carrier and any other name under which the flight is offered to the public.

		The Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office will give airlines and ticket agents 60 days to modify websites that are now using links for code-share disclosure to bring them into compliance before instituting enforcement action. In the meantime, it will continue to enforce other aspects of the current rules aggressively, as it has in the past. The guidance also reminded airlines that they are responsible for the compliance of their ticket agents, and put ticket agents that provide Internet ticket sales software to travel agents on notice that they must ensure that the software is in compliance with DOT’s rules, including the code-share disclosure requirements, or risk enforcement action. Other News Stories Evergreen Airlines Pilots Authorize Union To Call Strike Risk Expert To Provide Keynote At Aviation Safety Conference ATI Airlines Elects New President UPS Airlines’ President Bob Lekites Retiring After 36 Years Of Service Utah Highway Patrol Completes Training In Eurocopter’s AS350 Simulator Passengers Overpowers Hijacker On Turkish Airlines Flight TK1754 Mesaba Airlines Fined For Failing To Provide Wheelchair Services Eurocopter Modernize 36 AS350 Ecureuil Helicopters Royal Australian Air Force Receives Four Boeing Super Hornets Sen. Stevens Plane Crash, NTSB Issues ELT Recommendations Canada Approves G450 And G350 To Operate At 45,000 Feet American Airlines And The Online Travel Agency Debate ARSA Sets Record Straight For Future Of Aviation Advisory Committee Pan American Flight 281 Hijacker Sentenced Northrop Completes Second Flight Test Phase Of The MR-TCDL Relief Flight With Medical Supplies Headed To Pakistan’s Flood Victims SkyWest Purchases Four CRJ700 NextGen Regional Jets FAA Approves ToughWriter Flight Deck Printer On The Boeing 767 Aircraft World Fuel Services Completes Acquisition Of The Hiller Group The Association Of Flight Attendants Has New Leadership FAA Light-Sport Aircraft Safety Seminar-2011 Honda Achieves First Flight Of FAA Conforming HondaJet International Passengers Are Entitled To Compensation For Tarmac Delays Sex Flights Gets Grounded By The Civil Aviation Authority NTSB To Review Emergency Certificate Actions Regulations Russian Jet Burst Into A Ball Of Fire Just Before Takeoff Flight Design Seeking New Representatives To Better Serve Customers Wayne County Airport Saves Millions Trough Bond Refinancing NTSB Update On Jackson Hole B-757 Runway Overrun Incident