Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices: Airline Taxes Edition

Written by Steve Van Beek

Ok, we're going a bit off-topic for a couple of reasons.

1. It is Friday.
2. Why not?
3. It is interesting to think of the issues facing compliance officers in other industries.

The Washington Post ran a recent opinion piece from George Will which highlighted a requirement for airlines when they disclose taxes and fees:

"Spirit, Allegiant and Southwest are low-cost carriers that have thrived since the deregulation of the airline industry, which began in 1978. The government retains a narrow authority to prevent deceptive advertising practices. But as the airlines argued in petitioning the Supreme Court to hear their case, the government is micromanaging their speech merely to prevent the public from understanding the government’s tax burdens.

The government’s total price rule forbids the airlines from calling attention to the tax component of the price of a ticket by listing the price the airline charges and then the tax component with equal prominence. The rule mandates that any listing of the tax portion of a ticket’s price “not be displayed prominently and be presented in significantly smaller type than the listing of the total price.” The government is trying to prevent people from clearly seeing the burdens of government.

These three low-cost carriers compete for the most price-conscious travelers, and they want to tell those travelers which portion of a ticket’s cost the airlines control. The government, far from regulating to prevent customer confusion, is trying to prevent customers from understanding the taxes and fees that comprise approximately 20 percent of the average airline ticket." (Emphasis added).

I'm not trying to get political - but I found it very interesting that airlines face regulations which tell them their tax and fee disclosures cannot be displayed prominently. 

***

I wonder what the CFPB would say about such a regulation......Have a great weekend!

Comments

[Cheryl]

This is very interesting. I too wonder what the CFPB would say. Maybe someone should mention it to them.

[Steve Van Beek]

Thanks for the comment Cheryl - I have a feeling we'll hear more about this if the Supreme Court takes up the case. Stay tuned.

[DJ]

Sounds a little close to "Do as we say, not as we do" idea. Airlines have every right to be upset about this "requirement"!