The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today assessed a civil penalty against Continental Airlines for filing incomplete reports with the Department tabulating complaints that passengers with disabilities registered with the carrier. Continental was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $100,000.
“Protecting the rights of airline passengers with disabilities is one of our highest priorities, and we will continue to take enforcement action when our disability rules are violated,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
DOT rules require airlines to record disability-related complaints, categorize them by the type of disability and nature of the complaint, and submit an annual report on these complaints to the Department. If a single piece of consumer correspondence covers more than one issue, each issue must be counted as a separate complaint.
During an on-site inspection at Continental’s headquarters, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office discovered that the carrier had a policy of recording only the most significant issue in each disability complaint, even though many of the complaints involved more than one disability-related issue. Continental did so even though all carriers had been advised earlier that each disability-related issue raised in complaint letters must be individually tabulated.
The consent order is available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2010-0005. The Department’s annual report on disability-related air travel complaints may be found at http://airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/gateway1.htm. The report covering disability-related complaints in 2009 should be issued this summer.
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