WASHINGTON–It isn’t just credit unions and financial institutions complaining in Washington about a crackdown on fees.
The country’s major airlines have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation over new rules that would require carriers to disclose all airline fees upfront, including those for checked and carry-on bags as well as change and cancelation fees — up front.
The suit was in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court by Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, and United, along with an industry lobbying group, Airlines For America. The airlines are alleging the Department of Transportation exceeded its authority in announcing the new rule, calling it an “arbitrary, capricious” change, according to CNN.
The news outlet quoted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as saying at the time the new rule was announced, “Healthy competition requires that as a consumer you can comparison shop, which means knowing the real price of a trip before and not after you buy.”
The Department of Transportation is estimating the rule change will save consumers a half billion dollars each year, according to CNN.
‘Greatly Confuse Consumers’
“The ancillary fee rule by the Department of Transportation will greatly confuse consumers who will be inundated with information that will only serve to complicate the buying process,” Airlines For America said in a statement quoted by CNN. “DOT’s attempt to regulate private business operations in a thriving marketplace is beyond its authority.”
CUs Also Fighting Fee Proposals
The DOT’s rule and the lawsuit come at the same time credit unions and other financial institutions are fighting back against a CFPB rule to cap credit card late fees at $8. A stay against that rule, which was to go into effect this week, has been issued by a federal court.
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