Spirit Airlines Given Largest Fine from Customer Complaints by DOT

By Scott McCartney

Is the Department of Transportation getting tougher on airlines under the Obama administration?
Last week DOT fined Spirit Airlines $375,000 over consumer issues and said that the $215,000 that Spirit will actually pay in a settlement represents the largest-ever paid fine stemming from consumer complaints. (The DOT statement is here and the consent order is here.)
DOT hit Spirit on some issues we’ve raised before. The agency said Spirit failed to compensate some passengers who were involuntarily bumped from overbooked flights. In addition, Spirit failed to compensate passengers for lost luggage “within a reasonable period of time” – 14 months in one instance. And DOT said Spirit violated fare advertising rules by adding a $4.90 “passenger usage fee’’ without including it in advertised prices.
Spirit, with its ultra low-cost model, likes to push the envelope and sometimes goes to extremes to keep from spending money. The Florida-based airline argues that it is extremely consumer-friendly because it offers dirt-cheap fares, but it did make changes to address DOT issues.
“We have addressed all the core issues that caused customer experience challenges a few years ago including upgrading our computer systems and utilizing a new reservations partner,’’ Spirit said in a statement.
Spirit notes that most of the violations occurred before spring of 2008 and it has since made changes to improve customer service. If you fly Spirit, have you noticed changes?
DOT enforcement has been an issue in the past but the agency says the number of enforcement officers investigating consumer complaints has doubled to 41 in the past year. Congress has been pushing for more enforcement of airline consumer issues.