Picked this up on flyertalk.com. Frankly, the fine should have been higher ($140,000). But it's so like Tempe to neither admit or deny wrongdoing and just pay the hush money to make it go away. I can think of a lot of places $140K could help out around the system....


Order 2008-12-13
OST-2008-0031 - Consent Orders

Issued and Served December 23, 2008

This Consent Order concerns violations by US Airways, Inc. of the Department’s oversales rule, 14 CFR Part 250, and the statutory prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices, 49 U.S.C. § 41712. The violations stem from the carrier’s failure 1) to solicit volunteers before involuntarily denying boarding to passengers on oversold flights, 2) to furnish the required written notice to passengers who were denied boarding (“bumped”) involuntarily, and 3) to provide in a timely manner bumped passengers with the appropriate amount and type of denied boarding compensation. The order assesses US Airways a civil penalty of $140,000.

A recent review of US Airways’ passenger complaint records from July 2007 to July 2008 conducted by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings and of passenger complaints involving US Airways during the same period sent directly to the Enforcement Office revealed numerous instances in which the carrier bumped passengers, but did not follow one or more of the provisions of 14 CFR Part 250.

In mitigation, US Airways states that it did ultimately compensate all of the passengers identified by the Department. In addition, US Airways states that it has revamped its applicable training program to ensure that all airport staff are current on all Part 250 rules. US Airways is also reexamining its policies and procedures relating to overbooking to ensure a smoother process at the airport when it becomes necessary to seek volunteers or deny boarding.

In order to avoid litigation and without admitting or denying the violations described above, US Airways, Inc., agrees to the issuance of this order to cease and desist from future violations of 14 CFR Part 250 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712. US Airways, Inc., further agrees to the assessment of $140,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise assessable against it. The Enforcement Office believes that this compromise assessment is appropriate in view of the nature and extent of the violations in question, serves the public interest, and provides a strong incentive to all airlines to comply with the Department’s denied boarding regulation.

Any, or all, airport staff.

Please define Part 250.

Thank you.

Here.

All airport staff have been trained to go to that link?

Sadly yet another DOCUMENTED example of why The Sandcastle has no crediblity with Frequent Flyers.

It is also now been documented by the Federal Government that The Sandcastle can not be trusted.

Yet another example of their attitude and approach towards Frequent Flyers, Employees and Customers in general.


So to all of Kool-Aid types still wanna blame "a few disgruntled Frequent Flyers and those FFOCUS people"?

I suppose now you'll maintan that ALL of the DOT complaints were generated by US Aviation posters?

Looks like y'all gonna has to face da facts folks, ThEY CAN NOT BE TRUSTED PERIOD!

The above not withstanding, Merry Chrstmas to all you!

Part of the new process is any time someone is placed on the HKN list (holding confirmed needing seats) they are to get a copy of the Take Flight booklet which outlines volunteer and invol compensation. They are supposed to be reprogramming the kiosks to advise customers on the list to ask an agent for the booklet as well.

Listen... every airline on this board has been fined by the DOT for violating this rule. Which is why there's now 'contracts' on the ticket jackets.

To say that this proves anything other than some misinformed GA/GS's dropped the ball is stretching at best.

There is/was/never will be a directive from the SandCastle to violate any DOT regulation.

I always wondered what happened to those conspiracy folks when they shut down the X-Files chat boards...

Which is something we havent had in over 6 months. We no longer use/offer them.
But we do have copies of the COC available if someone asks for one.

Last I knew the Contract of Carriage had been eliminated from the boarding jackets as a cost cutting move.



The misinformed GA's and GS's are a byproduct of how US conducts business. Keeping wages ridiculously low and allowing life to be miserable for the GA's causes turnover, which limits the amount of institutional knowledge that they have for dealing with situations.

Oversold flight, to the point of needing to involuntarily deny boarding to paid customers, is one of the most stressful part of the GA's job. While the plane closes the door and proceeds on its merry way, the GA's are dealing with folks who are quite upset watching the plane leave, who are often irrational and screaming and either dealing with the issues at the gate or sending them to the customer assistance counter since the GA's either have a plane of the ground needing the gate or need to be at another gate for another flight.

Bingo!!! and on target for all employee groups at US, IMO.

I am hoping it is a result of the policy-makers not getting correct information about what happens at the passenger/employee interface but it could be simply malicious negligence on the part of the executives.

Piney, et al: Don't faint, but I'm coming to the defense of Tempe on this one. This isn't an issue about which The Sandcastle is terminally unique, or something they're necessarily doing wrong, even though there's always room for improvement.

With respect to handling oversales, the lack of written disclosure, proper solicitation of volunteers and timely or accurate compensation payment issues were long-standing problems in the East as well.

Deceptive? Is that even the right word? Was working an oversold Denver the other day, had to deny about 7 people. Do you think they where given a choice of a cash payment or a TFC? Nope! Supervisor said only give them 2 TFC's! WTF???? I know its a pain in the ass to calculate the cash payment but Hello??? It's what is
printed in the Take Flight Booklet! They have a choice and it really ticks me off when I am intructed not to follow policy and procedure.

Just 2 TFCs for 7 people or 2 TFCs each?

I hope you report that to your manager, especially in light of the subject of this thread, if not to correct the non-compliant supervisor, at least to cover your keester if and when one of these mishandled customers figures it out and goes to CR or the DOT. Without that, sadly, if anyone is counseled for not following procedure, I suspect it will be you, not the supervisor.

A good friend, and non-airline person, called me a day or so ago from CLT to ask me what to do. He was in the midst of being involuntarily DB'ed. He, too, wasn't offered any explanation or choice of compensation. Just a TFC and "unacceptably nasty" (his words, not mine) instructions to wait five hours for the next flight. I told him that the employees hadn't followed federal regulations or US procedures and that, as a result, he should:

1. Ask for a supervisor locally to rectify the problem. If unsuccessful,
2. File a written complaint through www.dot.gov, directly to Doug Parker and Customer Relations - all simultaneously,
3. In either case, insist that his TFC be converted to cash since he wasn't given that more attractive option originally. Based on his fare, he would easily quality for the max invol cash payment which is much better than a TFC.

Why is it, 16 months after leaving US, I STILL felt the need to apologize to him, to try to help him, to defend the rude actions of a fellow employee, and to morph back into my old Consumer Affairs persona to try to save an angry customer from leaving the company in disgust?

Hmm. Maybe that question should be posed under the "US Haters" thread?

I didn't say anything to a manger, honestly it wouldn't have done any good and because I would have ratted on the supervisor, I would have been given evil looks. So, I kept my mouth shut. It will come back to haunt them.

No offense or personal attack is intended by this, JetguyCLT, because this isn't a new problem.

This is a good example of why things stay screwed up at this company. In a healthy work environment, it would be perfect acceptable - if not expected - to point out the inconsistency with the procedure for the sake of regulatory compliance, customer service and the employees' sanity. Instead, there's concern with butt-covering, as in my suggestion, and apprehension over being a stool pigeon or with getting potential retaliation from the boss.

No offense taken.

This topic raises a couple of interesting points, however, let me ask a question. Is there anything in the DOT rules which dictates that a customer must be given a choice between cash or a TFC?


US (Tempe) has a history of throwing coupons at every problem, and not addressing the base issue. They would rather have the customer shut up and go away than fix the problem, and I think perhaps this is an outgrowth of that mindset.

When I was a highly valued and loyal customer of US, whenever I had to interact with Consumer Affairs, it was for good reason (I knew what was important and what was not). Not getting a drink or not having my coat hung up was just one of those things--however, being denied boarding on a short connection while an aircraft was still at the gate with the door open was something to call about...especially when the gate agent was being rude and unhelpful.

I will also add that when NCFL was there, the CA group at INT really went out of their way to try to make things right if they thought US was wrong. I had many dealings with NCFL and his team, and became friendly with him and Ms. Thompson in the process. I eventually became part of a "Consumer Advisory Board" where they would reach out to customers and actually do market research.

Unfortunately, the current management does not value its customers and values its employees even less. This attitude is pervasive and shows in both the product and level of customer service.

So while other airlines may have some similar issues with invols and overbooking, at US they stand out as a glaring example of what's wrong with this company.

The lack of true leadership at the top is absolutely mind boggling.

I truly miss my friends at US, and I do wish you all well (front line), but I cannot in good conscience give one dollar of my money to a management team which goes out of its way to show me how little they care about my business...

My BEST to you all...

As stated in the Take Flight With US Booklet that is supposed to be given to passengers who volunteer or who are placed on the standby list HKN, if a passenger is denied boarding involuntarily, then they have an option of cash compensation aka a check or a TFC. So Yes, I do believe it is a DOT required item.

250.5 Amount of denied boarding compensation for passengers denied boarding involuntarily.

(a) Subject to the exceptions provided in § 250.6, a carrier as defined in § 250.1, shall pay compensation to passengers denied boarding involuntarily from an oversold flight at the rate of 200 percent of the sum of the values of the passenger’s remaining flight coupons up to the passenger’s next stopover, or if none, to the passenger’s final destination, with a maximum of $400. However, the compensation shall be one-half the amount described above, with a $200 maximum, if the carrier arranges for comparable air transporation, or other transportation used by the passenger that, at the time either such arrangement is made, is planned to arrive at the airport of the passenger’s next stopover or if none, at the airport of the passenger’s destination, not later than 2 hours after the time the direct or connecting flight on which confirmed space is held is planned to arrive in the case of interstate and overseas air transportation, or 4 hours after such time in the case of foreign air transportation.

(b) Carriers may offer free or reduced rate air transportation in lieu of the cash due under paragraph (a) of this section, if (1) the value of the transportation benefit offered is equal to or greater than the cash payment otherwise required, and (2) the carrier informs the passenger of the amount of cash compensation that would otherwise be due and that the passenger may decline the transportation benefit and receive the cash payment.

Jim

Do the vouchers they offer these days have blackout dates and/or capacity controls on them? If so the passenger's need to know that also otherwise I think a claim of fraud is possible.

Absolutely. See below.



I agree completely - you never once contacted us with a frivolous complaint.




Translation from governmentese: In an involuntary denied boarding situation, the customer is to be given the choice between cash payment for twice the value of the fare for the affected segment, or a TFC, whichever is more suitable to the customer. The exception is if the airline can make arrangements to get the customer there within two hours of scheduled time, in which case the maximum cash payment is $200.

The customer MUST be told the amount of the cash payment and MUST be given a choice between that and a TFC before compensation is issued. Period.

In a voluntary denied boarding situation, the compensation is of the airline's choosing.



I don't work there any longer and can't quote current procedures, but they used to be in the same inventory bucket as Dividend Miles awards. Based on my knowledge of Tempe's ability to squeeze a nickel to make the buffalo fart, especially when it's to the detriment of the customer or the employee, I'd suspect the answer to your question is "yes."

I don't think it's a regulatory requirement to explain capacity conrols on TFCs, but it ought to be. I could be wrong on that. It's one of the most common complaints about free tickets from DB situations. "They gave me this thing and it's worthless."

I dont see why its so hard for agents to hand out a TFC book when a customer is given a TFC. New policy now is even if they are an HKN and you have 20 volunteers already, they are to be given a TFC book. This has ALL the rules and restrictions printed inside so there is no reason to spend an hour telling the customer all the benefits of the "free" ticket or now being able to get at least $200 off your next flight. In many instances, the $200 off will equal or almost equal a free ticket in many markets anyway if you book far enough in advance. The customer will also have something to keep their TFC receipt in with all the info in case 11 1/2 months from the date of the bump they find it and try to remember what it was.

A couple of side notes. The amounts have doubled. It is still $0 if the airline can get the customer to their destination within 1 hour of the original scheduled arrival time. It is a maximum of $400 within 2 hours and a maximum of $800 if over 2 hours. The customer who volunteers or who is unable to obtain a seat must be given the US booklet at the time of their check-in. The company has made this abundently clear to the airport and airport personnel. Some just don't seem to listen. A customer who is involuntarily denied boarding (meeting all the check-in rules) must be offered cash (really a check) or a TFC. If the customer accepts the offer, then they have no further recourse against the company. If they refuse the compensation then they may seek legal recourse. If they decide not to go and refund the ticket, they are not eligable for compensation.

Thanks for that. You are 100% correct.