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Frontier Airlines
Fined For Failing To Display On Time Performance On Its Web Site By Steve Hall |
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June 10, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) fined Frontier Airlines $40,000 for failing to
display on-time performance for its flights on the
carrier’s Web site as required by DOT rules and ordered
the carrier to cease and desist from further violations
in the future.
“Air travelers have a right to know whether the flight
they are buying is chronically delayed or canceled,”
said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
“Protecting the rights of air travelers is a high
priority for DOT and we will continue to take
enforcement action when necessary.” According to DOT’s airline consumer rule that became effective in April 2010, the 16 largest U.S. carriers must post information on their Web sites about the on-time performance of each of their flights. |
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The
information must include the percentage of flights that arrived
within 15 minutes of schedule; the percentage of arrivals that
were more than 30 minutes late, with special highlighting if
these flights were late more than 50 percent of the time; and
the percentage of cancellations if more than 5 percent of the
flight’s operations were canceled.
DOT’s
Aviation Enforcement Office reviewed Frontier’s Web site and
information provided by the carrier, and found that its on-time
performance data were not available to consumers visiting the
site during a period of time in early 2011.
Frontier did not discover or correct the problem until
after the Enforcement Office notified the carrier. The Department’s on-time performance (OTP) data rule enables consumers to make informed choices when booking air transportation by requiring the posting of information on carrier websites to indicate which flights are often late or are often cancelled.
Specifically, the rule requires reporting carriers to display
the percentage of arrivals that were on time (i.e., within 15
minutes of scheduled arrival time), the percentage of arrivals
that were more than 30 minutes late (including special
highlighting if the flight was late more than 50 percent of the
time), and the percentage of flight cancellations if 5 percent
or more of the flight’s operations were cancelled in the month
covered. |