Spirit Airlines Fined By US DOT
Spirit Airlines fined $375,000 for violating consumer protection regulations
Spirit Airlines has been hit with a record civil fine for violating consumer protection regulations.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday fined the Miramar-based discount carrier $375,000 for failing to comply with rules governing denied boarding compensation, fare advertising, baggage liability and other consumer protection requirements. The civil penalty is a record for these kinds of violations, the DOT said in a media release.
Spirit bumped passengers from oversold flights but did not provide compensation or a written notice of their rights to compensation as required. Spirit also failed to resolve baggage claims within a reasonable period, on one occasion taking 14 months to provide compensation.
In addition, the airline violated DOT rules by providing compensation for delayed baggage only for the outbound leg of round-trip flights and only for purchases made more than 24 hours after arrival. Spirit also violated baggage liability laws for international travel by refusing to accept responsibility for missing laptop computers and certain other items it accepted as baggage, the DOT said.
The airline violated DOT rules requiring airfare ads to state the full price by omitting carrier-imposed fees from the base fare. Spirit also violated DOT rules by failing to retain copies of consumer complaints and by failing to file required reports in a timely manner, the DOT added.
Spirit serves Tampa International Airport with less than 5 percent market share.
“Selling fares for $9 has made us very popular and, a few years ago when we adopted this model, we had some growing pains during the transition,” Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said in an e-mail. “We have addressed all the core issues that caused customer experience challenges a few years ago, including upgrading our computer systems and utilizing a new reservations partner.”
Customer service has suffered at Spirit in favor of cutting costs, said Stuart Klaskin, an aviation analyst with Coral Gables-based Klaskin Kushner & Co.
“I think, for a while, Spirit lost sight of the other factors in the travel experience outside just pricing,” he said. “In fairness, my impression is that they are taking steps to move the airline in a direction where the consumer experience is more positive from a travel perspective, and not just a price perspective.”
But, a reputation for poor service makes Spirit vulnerable to other low-cost carriers angling to compete with them, Klaskin noted. Carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest are expanding their footprints and, given the choice to fly with a carrier that charges a little more money but provides a better customer experience, consumers will do so, he said.
“The great fallacy with low-cost airlines has always been that price wins,” Klaskin said. “There is a service element, too.”
Comments
Incident on 11/18/2010
I was alerted to reasonable airfare through Travelzoo from Boston to Montego Bay, Jamaica. I joined the “club" for $59.99 which was the only way of getting the discounted tickets and booked flights for myself, my son and his fiancee. They plan to wed there. Today I received 12 back-to-back emails from Spirit completely changing the itinerary. Instead of leaving at 10:45 am it was bumped back to 5:37 am. Naturally the arrival time would be earlier but major and costly inconvenience as it would require all of us to stay up the night and make other ground arrangements to get to Boston that early in the am at far greater expense. The worst change, however, was totally ignoring our return date and arbitrarily/unilaterally making it a day later with a 5 hour layover in Ft. Lauderdale. This was completely unacceptable as we have employment commitments. I was on the telephone in a holding pattern for over an hour getting the run around about a mechanical issue (someone has telepathy as the flight was not until February) and alternately flights were cancelled. Note I only booked these flights 2 weeks prior so one would think the airline would know if the flights were not going to be available both internationally and domestically. Of course I could reach no one stateside at all. I spoke with two very patient individuals in India who were obviously working from a script.
India: "No I can only credit you for another flight.”
Me: “Well, no, I will never fly your airline again so that really will not do any good."
India: "That is the best I can do."
Me: "Let me speak with someone in the US."
India: "We cannot do that, there is no one there to speak with."
Me: "Let me speak with your supervisor."
India: "Very well I will check on you every 2 minutes to see you do not get disconnected."
Me: "Very well."
So after several 2 minute check ins I finally spoke with the supervisor. He acknowledged the entire flight was canceled so everyone booked had to be re-routed. Same on the return. Claimed there were no other flights. There may not have been at the discounted price but online, there were other flights still listed. When I pointed that out he agreed to credit my card back for the entire amount. Then I demanded the return of the $59.99 special $9 fare club. That was located in another department (still there in India). Finally transferred and told it was non-refundable. Got it at least cancelled but will have to try to go through my state's consumer protection authority. Now, during the limited actual discussions, I could hear in the background other phone answerers having a good old time talking, laughing and generally cutting up. I received the required "I'm so sorry." but clearly they were not feeling my pain nor my anger. Had this occurred closer to the actual wedding date, it might have been irreparable. I turned around and booked on my standby, the more reliable US Air, but at an additional $500.00+. I spent 1 hr., 21 minutes and 37 secs. on the telephone waiting for service with possibly 7 minutes of all that time in a primarily one way discussion. I will never fly Spirit and I strongly advise others to avoid it at all cost. Do not join the club. As far as I'm concerned this was no more than a bait and switch.
1. Damage Resulting
Obviously, I am out the $59.99 for the "club" in addition to the difference in airfare. I am also out over an hour and 20 minutes of my time.
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