Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. - 2009 Consent Orders (Order 2009-8-4 OST-2009-0001)
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.
Order 2009-8-4
OST-2009-0001 - 2009 Consent Orders
Issued and Served 10-Aug-2009
Consent Order
This consent order concerns violations by Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., of the Department’s code-share disclosure rule, 14 CFR Part 257, and the statutory prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices, 49 U.S.C. § 41712. It directs Hawaiian Airlines to cease and desist from future violations of Part 257 and section 41712, and assesses the carrier $50,000 in civil penalties.
An investigation by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings revealed a significant lack of compliance by Hawaiian Airlines with section 257.5. In January, February and March of 2009, Enforcement Office staff made a number of telephone calls to Hawaiian Airlines’ reservations line to determine if, as required by section 257.5(b), the carrier’s employees were advising consumers of the code-share status of Hawaiian Airlines flights operated by other carriers. The Hawaiian Airlines reservations agents answering those calls failed to disclose the code-share status of the flights in question during a substantial number of those calls. Violations of Part 257 constitute unfair and deceptive trade practices and unfair methods of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712.
In mitigation, Hawaiian states its belief that this enforcement action was not based upon the complaint of a customer or member of the public concerned with code-share disclosure requirements. Hawaiian also states that it has recently moved its reservation function to an off-shore provider located in the Philippines and has found the transition difficult. Therefore, according to the carrier, it has renewed its surveillance and supervision of the contractor. Hawaiian further states that all reservation agents are being put through both initial and recurrent training, which will be completed by the end of June this year. According to the carrier, recent tests it conducted confirm to the company that these renewed training efforts of sales staff and supervisory personnel have resulted in marked improvement in reservation agent performance in general and compliance with Part 257, in particular. Hawaiian pledges that it will continue to monitor its reservations provider to ensure future compliance.
We view seriously the failure of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., to disclose code-sharing arrangements as required by 14 CFR Part 257. Accordingly, after carefully considering all of the facts in this case, including those set forth above, the Enforcement Office believes that enforcement action is warranted. In order to avoid litigation, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., agrees to the issuance of this order to cease and desist from future similar violations of Part 257 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and to the assessment of $50,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise assessable against it. We believe that this compromise assessment is appropriate in view of the nature and extent of the violations in question, serves the public interest, and provides a meaningful incentive to all airlines to comply with the Department’s code-share disclosure rule.
Source: AirlineInfo, http://airlineinfo.com
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