Colorado’s attorney general asked the U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday to investigate issues which Frontier Airlines did not refund the price tag of flights canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak and made it practically impossible for people to use vouchers for other flights during the pandemic.
In a sales copy to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Phil Weiser stated his office had received over hundred complaints from Colorado and twenty nine other states about the Denver-based very low cost carrier since March, more than any other company.
Individuals said that Frontier refused to issue them your money back when flights were canceled because of the pandemic, that Weiser stated violated department regulations that refunds are actually due also when cancellations are actually because of to circumstances beyond airlines’ control. Individuals that received vouchers for using on future flights after voluntarily canceling their travel plans were not able to redeem them. Some were rejected with the airline’s site and were unable to extend the 90 day time limit for applying them or even were restricted to using the vouchers on only one flight, he wrote. Still others who sought assistance through the airline’s customer care line had been recorded on hold for several hours and were disconnected frequently, he said.
Weiser believed that the Department of Transportation was in the very best position to explore the complaints and said it should issue fines of as much as $2,500 per violation when appropriate.
Persistent problem? DOT warns airlines? once again? to issue refunds for canceled flights after receiving 25,000 complaints
Businesses cannot be permitted to make the most of consumers during the time and must be held responsible for unfair and deceptive conduct, he said in a statement.
Frontier said it’s stayed in total compliance with department rules and regulations regarding flight modifications, cancellations and refunds.
Throughout the pandemic, Frontier Airlines has acted to faith which is great to take care of our passengers fairly and compassionately, the company said in a declaration.
Complaints about obtaining refunds from airlines surged this particular spring. In May, Chao requested airlines to be as flexible and considerate as you can to the needs of passengers who face financial hardship.
In the department’s May air travel customer report, the most recent offered, Frontier had the third-highest fee of overall issues, trailing Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines. The report counts just complaints from buyers that go through the trouble of filing a criticism with the department, not people who only grumble to an airline.