Colorado’s attorney general requested the U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday to take a look at issues that Frontier Airlines didn’t refund the cost of flights canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak and made it practically not possible for men and women to apply vouchers for various other flights while in the pandemic.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Phil Weiser said his office had received above 100 complaints from Colorado and twenty nine various other states regarding the Denver-based very low cost carrier since March, more than any business.
Individuals said that Frontier refused to issue them your money back when flights were canceled due to the pandemic, that Weiser said violated department regulations that refunds are actually due also when cancellations are because of to circumstances beyond airlines’ management. Individuals that received vouchers for use on succeeding flights after voluntarily canceling the travel plans of theirs have been unable to redeem them. Some were rejected by the airline’s website and were unable to extend the 90 day time limit for applying them or perhaps ended up being restricted to employing the vouchers on simply one flight, he wrote. Still other people who sought help with the airline’s customer support line had been written on hold for many hours and were disconnected regularly, he said.
Weiser said that the Department of Transportation was at the most effective spot to take a look at the complaints and said it should issue fines of up to $2,500 per violation when appropriate.
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Companies cannot be allowed to make use of customers during this time and must be held accountable for unfair and deceptive conduct, he stated in a statement.
Frontier said it’s remained in total compliance with department rules as well as regulations regarding flight modifications, refunds and cancellations.
Throughout the pandemic, Frontier Airlines has acted in great faith to take care of our passengers fairly and compassionately, the business said in a declaration.
Claims about obtaining refunds from airlines surged this spring. In May, Chao asked airlines to be as flexible and considerate as possible to the needs of passengers that face economic hardship.
In the department’s May air travel consumer report, probably the most recent offered, Frontier had the third-highest rate of general grumbles, trailing Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines. The report counts just complaints from buyers who go through the problems of filing a criticism with the office, not those who just complain to an airline.