Airlines for America urge DOT to put customers first.
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Press Release Summary:
A4A issued statement regarding DOT's Proposed Rulemaking. According A4A, airlines strongly support full transparency and already ensure that all pricing information is available as defined by DOT's previous consumer rule. By proposing that airlines provide information on some ancillary options to duopoly of GDS providers, DOT's rule would further increase airline expense, and force airlines to pass on additional costs to customers in form of higher fares or reduced levels of air service.
Original Press Release:
Airlines for America Urge Department of Transportation to Put Customers First
WASHINGTON, – Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, issued the following statement regarding the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Proposed Rulemaking:
Airlines strongly support full transparency, and already ensure that all pricing information is available as defined by the DOT’s previous consumer rule.
We believe this proposal overreaches and limits how free markets work and will have negative consequences. The government does not prescriptively tell other industries (hotels, computer makers, rental car companies) how they should sell their products, and we believe consumers are best served when the companies they do business with are able to tailor products and services to their customers. By proposing that airlines provide information on some ancillary options to a duopoly of Global Distribution System (GDS) providers, DOT's rule likely would further increase airline expense, and force airlines to pass on the additional costs to customers in the form of higher fares or reduced levels of air service. Even the DOT’s cost-benefit analysis of this new proposed rule indicates that the costs outweigh the benefits.
The marketplace is already working, as several airlines have reached agreements with GDSs, and we ask that DOT put customers first and let the market work and not distort it with the unintended consequence of this proposed rule.
ABOUT A4A
Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and more than 10 million U.S. jobs. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. America needs a cohesive National Airline Policy that will support the integral role the nation’s airlines play in connecting people and goods globally, spur the nation’s economic growth and create more high-paying jobs.
For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesdotorg.
For more information about the National Airline Policy campaign:
Visit: www.nationalairlinepolicy.com
Twitter: @Natl_Air_Policy
Facebook: facebook.com/nationalairlinepolicy.
