Aviation Industry Updates: August 29, 2023

JetBlue Pushes Back On Reports That It Plans To Hike Fares 40% After Acquiring Spirit

KEY POINTS:

• JetBlue Airways is pushing back against a report saying that court papers reveal its plan to raise fares up to 40% on Spirit Airlines’ jets after acquiring the carrier for $3.8 billion.
• “Unfortunately, following a filing error by the legal team for a group of consumers that has filed a baseless lawsuit, we are in a position where we need to correct the record,” a spokesperson for the New York-based airline said on 25 August.
• JetBlue takes issue with a widely-cited 24 August report from legal news service Law360. That report said plaintiffs challenging JetBlue’s acquisition of Spirit failed to properly redact sections of a recently filed court document, which were reportedly viewable if copy-pasted into another document. Law360 says the sections reveal plans by JetBlue to increase ticket prices 24-40% on Spirit’s jets after completing the acquisition.
• But JetBlue, which has insisted its acquisition of Spirit will increase competition, says the report does not accurately portray its plans.
• The court documents in question “did not include JetBlue internal plans, but rather the plaintiff’s attorney’s interpretation of court evidence”, says a spokesperson for the airline.
  Details are murky partly because the information in the relevant court paper has since been totally redacted. Still unclear is whether the plaintiffs’ attorney used internal JetBlue information to come up with the alleged fare-hike estimates. 
• ”This information comes from the plaintiffs, who are pointing, in an opposition brief, to what they say are JetBlue estimates,” says Bryan Koenig, the Law360 reporter who authored the article. 
• JetBlue argues that facts have been misrepresented by Alioto Legal, the San Francisco-based law firm representing air travellers and travel agents in a private lawsuit seeking to block JetBlue from acquiring Spirit. The plaintiffs say the deal will violate antitrust laws, according to documents filed with US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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Spirit Airlines To Pay $8.25M To Customers Hit With Surprise Bag Fees

KEY POINTS:

• Traveling cheap usually includes hidden costs — now, plaintiffs who previously flew on Spirit Airlines and were surprised with bag fees at the gate will be paid settlements.
• After a six-year-long class action lawsuit, Spirit agreed to pay up to $8.25 million for legal fees and compensation to impacted passengers who flew from 2011 to 2017, according to a motion filed Wednesday by the plaintiffs' lawyers.
• The plaintiffs brought the suit after they booked Spirit tickets on third-party booking sites like Expedia and were charged additional fees for carry-on bags at the airport, per the suit.
• Per Spirit's baggage guidelines, only a small personal item that fits under a seat is included in the ticket price. A carry-on price changes depending on when and where you travel, but at the gate can run passengers $99 and up, according to reporting from Forbes.

Insider

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FAA Investigating 5,000 Pilots Medical Records

KEY POINTS:

• Federal authorities have been probing roughly 5,000 pilots who officials believe may have falsified their medical records to hide that they were earning benefits for significant health issues that could imperil their ability to fly safely, The Washington Post reported.
• The pilots who have had their records examined are military veterans who informed the Federal Aviation Administration that they were suitable to fly, but didn't disclose that they were also receiving veterans benefits for various disabilities that could prevent them from effectively sitting in a pilot's seat.
• Veterans Affairs investigators stumbled on the record inconsistencies over two years ago, but the FAA had not publicly disclosed many aspects of the investigation, according to The Post.
• FAA spokesman Matthew Lehner told The Post that the agency had been probing around 4,800 pilots "who might have submitted incorrect or false information as part of their medical applications" and indicated that roughly half of the cases were closed. The spokesman also said 60 pilots who "posed a clear danger to aviation safety" were — for the moment — barred from the cockpit while their records were being looked over by officials.

Business Insider

DOT Hits American With Largest-Ever Fine Over Ground Delays

KEY POINTS:

• The Department of Transportation fined American Airlines $4.1 million for keeping passengers on multiple domestic flights on the tarmac for hours without giving them a chance to deplane.
• The DOT previously fined United Airlines a then-record $1.9 million for violating federal statutes and the department's rule prohibiting long tarmac delays for over 25 flights from December 2015 to February 2021, which the airline said was mostly due to severe weather.
• The tarmac delays affected a total of 5,821 passengers, and most of them occurred at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which is one of the airlines' hubs.
• Passengers were not given the required food or water during the American Airlines delays, according to the DOT.
• What they're saying: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement the fine was part of the department's effort to "enforce the rights" of airline passengers.
• "Whether the issue is extreme tarmac delays or problems getting refunds, DOT will continue to protect consumers and hold airlines accountable," he added.
• The DOT did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.

Axios

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