by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:50 AM ET, Wed April 17, 2024
On April 16, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a bipartisan Airline Passenger Protection Partnership with 18 state attorneys general, providing state attorneys general with the ability to investigate airlines for potential aviation consumer protection law violations.
The new rule was signed as a way to funnel potential violations on a fast-track program, having first been vetted by an attorney general, then referred to the DOT. The partnership would also ensure that airlines comply with state investigations into potential violations, which prior to this was not mandatory.
Secretary Buttigieg made the initial announcement at the Denver International Airport with Colorado Attorney General Phil Reiser, one of the main supporters of the initiative. Along with Colorado, other states and territories that have signed the agreement include California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, the United States Virgin Islands and Wisconsin.
Other states may also sign into the initiative at any time.
“We take our mission to protect consumers seriously, and today's launch of the Airline Passenger Protection Partnership is an important milestone in that effort,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “By partnering with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Transportation has expanded our ability to hold airlines and ticket agents accountable and protect passengers from unfair or deceptive practices.”
As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, the DOT will also provide state attorneys general with access to its new consumer complaint system. According to the DOT’s official announcement of the partnership, the new system will help ease the burden of the department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, which currently has a staff of 40 individuals.
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