Frontier Airlines might encounter federal probe more than alleged refusal to refund canceled flights
Colorado’s attorney general asked the U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday to investigate complaints which Frontier Airlines didn’t refund the price tag of flights canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak and then made it practically impossible for individuals to apply vouchers for various other flights during the pandemic.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Phil Weiser said the office of his had gotten approximately 100 complaints from Colorado and 29 various other states regarding the Denver based very low cost carrier since March, more than every other business.
People said Frontier refused to issue them your money back when flights were canceled because of the pandemic, that Weiser mentioned violated department regulations that refunds are actually thanks also when cancellations are actually because of to situations beyond airlines’ management. Other people who received vouchers for using on future flights after voluntarily canceling their travel plans had been unable to redeem them. Some were rejected by the airline’s website and were not able to extend the 90-day time limit for using them or even were limited to utilizing the vouchers on just one flight, he published. Still other people who sought help through the airline’s customer care line were put on hold for many hours and were disconnected regularly, he said.
Weiser believed that the Department of Transportation was in the best place to take a look at the complaints and said it should issue fines of as much as $2,500 per violation when adequate.
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Businesses can’t be permitted to take advantage of consumers during this time and must be held accountable for unfair and deceptive conduct, he said in a statement.
Frontier said it has stayed in total compliance with department rules as well as regulations concerning flight modifications, refunds and cancellations.
Throughout the pandemic, Frontier Airlines has acted to faith that is fine to care for the passengers of ours fairly and compassionately, the business said in a declaration.
Complaints about getting refunds from airlines surged this spring. In May, Chao asked airlines to be as considerate and flexible as possible to the requirements of passengers which face economic hardship.
In the department’s May environment traveling customer report, the most recent offered, Frontier had the third highest price of general grumbles, trailing Hawaiian Airlines as well as United Airlines. The report counts just complaints from customers that go through the difficulty of filing a complaint with the unit, not people who only grumble to an airline.