<\/p>\n
March 16, 2016<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Honorable John Thune
\nChairman
\nCommittee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
\nUnited States Senate
\n512 Dirksen Senate Office Building
\nWashington, DC 20510<\/p>\n
The Honorable Bill Nelson
\nRanking Member
\nCommittee on Commerce, Science & Transportation
\nUnited States Senate
\n512 Dirksen Senate Office Building
\nWashington, DC 20510<\/p>\n
Dear Senators Thune and Nelson:<\/p>\n
The American air travel industry has, in less than a decade, consolidated from nine national carriers to just four today. Between them, American, Delta, Southwest and United control 80% of the market for domestic air travel.[1]<\/a> Consolidation, combined with cheap fuel, increasingly cramped cabins and a litany of fees, has enabled the airlines to post their highest profits on record — $14.1 billion for the Big Four airlines alone. The industry\u2019s record profits are set to continue as far as the eye can see, and are estimated at $33 billion in 2016, according to the International Air Transport Association.<\/p>\n As the Commerce Committee considers S.2658, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016, consumer organizations ask that you support measures to ensure that these profits are not coming at the expense of the wallets, care, and safety of the flying public. To achieve this, the undersigned organizations urge you and your colleagues to strengthen S.2658 by approving a number of consumer protection amendments.<\/p>\n Specifically, we ask that you support the following amendments:<\/p>\n U.S. airlines have long argued that competition, driven by industry deregulation, would provide a check on anti-consumer conduct in the industry. However, as the American airline industry has consolidated, competitive pressures have vanished, leaving consumers to bear the brunt of higher fees, less space and atrocious service. With complaints skyrocketing, consumers are telling Washington \u201cenough is enough.\u201d[8]<\/a> S. 2658 is an important opportunity for Senators on this Committee to promote greater transparency and accountability on the part of the airlines. We urge you to support these important amendments.<\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Sally Greenberg<\/strong> Linda Sherry<\/strong> Susan Grant<\/strong> George Slover<\/strong> Ed Mierzwinski<\/strong> CC: Members of the Senate Commerce Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Mutzbaugh, Ben. \u201cEra of airline merger mania comes to a close with last US Airways flight,\u201d USA Today<\/em>. October 16, 2015. Online: https:\/\/usat.ly\/1OxPQll<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [2]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> Remarks of Congressman Steve Cohen. \u201cINTRODUCTION OF SEAT EGRESS IN AIR TRAVEL (SEAT) ACT,\u201d<\/a> Congressional Record.<\/em> February 8, 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [3]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> Elliott, Christopher. \u201cYour airplane seat is going to keep shrinking,\u201d Fortune<\/em>. September 12, 2015. Online: https:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/09\/12\/airline-seats-shrink\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [4]<\/a> Bureau of Transportation Statistics T-100 Segment data. Online: https:\/\/www.transtats.bts.gov\/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=5<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [5]<\/a> Bureau of Transportation Statistics. \u201cBaggage Fees By Airline 2015,\u201d December 15, 2015. Online: https:\/\/www.bts.gov\/content\/baggage-fees-airline-2015<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [6]<\/a> National Consumers League. \u201cAir travel insurance big bucks, little protection,\u201d Press release. September 2013. Online: https:\/\/nclnet.org\/air_travel_insurance_big_bucks_little_protection<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [7]<\/a> Mutzabaugh, Benjamin. \u201cAirlines collected record baggage fees in 2012,\u201d USA Today<\/em>. May 15, 2013. Online: https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/todayinthesky\/2013\/05\/14\/airlines-collected-record-baggage-fees-in-2012\/2158983\/<\/a> (\u201cThe airlines took in $159.5 billion in revenue last year and had expenses of $153.6 billion, according to the government. That 3.7% profit margin comes entirely from the baggage and change fees.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [8]<\/a> Department of Transportation. \u201c2015 Airline Consumer Complaints Up From Previous Year,\u201d Press Release. February 18, 2016. Online: https:\/\/www.bts.gov\/newsroom\/2015-airline-consumer-complaints-previous-year<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 16, 2016 The Honorable John Thune Chairman Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation United States Senate 512 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Bill Nelson Ranking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1221"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17526,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions\/17526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nExecutive Director
\nNational Consumers League<\/p>\n
\nDirector, National Priorities
\nConsumer Action<\/p>\n
\nDirector of Consumer Protection and Privacy
\nConsumer Federation of America<\/p>\n
\nSenior Policy Counsel
\nConsumers Union<\/p>\n
\nConsumer Program Director
\nU.S. PIRG<\/p>\n
\n