HuffPost: The Department Of Transportation Has Cracked Down On Airlines Before. Why Not Now?
For years, airline carriers sometimes made passengers wait in their seats for hours before takeoff — until 2009, when the federal government told them to knock it off or face heavy fines.
Now, a new pattern has emerged of airlines canceling thousands of flights at the last minute, stranding customers who could have made other travel plans — but it’s not clear whether U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is willing to take dramatic action.
“That’s the question we have to ask Secretary Buttigieg: Is he willing to do whatever it takes to have the airlines do the right thing?” William McGee, a consumer advocate and aviation expert with the American Economic Liberties Project, said in an interview.
“It is inexcusable for a family with a crying baby in their lap to be in an Uber on the way to the airport and get a text that their flight has been canceled,” McGee said.
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An official with the American Airlines pilots union suggested last month that the carrier booked flights knowing it lacked staff to fly them. McGee said Buttigieg should demand to see air carriers’ records on crew sufficiency.
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