Feds, NC Justice Department partner to protect air travelers’ rights

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By Steve Schuster

North Carolina officials are partnering with the federal government to hold airlines accountable for their bad behavior.

“Too often, air travel is a headache,” state Attorney General Josh Stein said. “This partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation authorizes my office to better protect North Carolina air travelers when they run into issues,” Stein said.

North Carolina is one of 25 states or territories that have signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. DOT or expressed an interest in doing so. Other signatories include California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Stein announced the partnership Tuesday. Under it, the North Carolina Department of Justice and the federal agency will work in collaboration to review and resolve consumer complaints and identify violations of federal aviation consumer protection requirements by airlines and ticket agents.

Issues North Carolinians can file a complaint about include delayed or canceled flights for which they are not paid proper compensation and lost, delayed or damaged luggage.

“This is long overdue,” said Christopher Elliott, a syndicated columnist and chief advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy, a Spokane, Washington-based nonprofit consumer rights and problem-solving organization.

According to Elliott, there has been a significant uptick in overall cases his group has received.

“We’re up 80% from a year ago,” he said.

Mission under federal law

Federal officials said they take consumer rights seriously, and that the protection of airline consumers is central to DOT’s mission under federal law.

“We take our mission to protect consumers seriously, and today’s launch of the Airline Passenger Protection Partnership is an important milestone in that effort,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a written statement.

“By partnering with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Transportation has expanded our ability to hold airlines and ticket agents accountable and protect passengers from unfair or deceptive practices,” he said.

According to the terms of the new agreement, Stein’s office will be authorized to investigate consumer complaints against air carriers, ticket agents and other air travel companies supervised by DOT.

According to officials, the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, a DOT agency, will prioritize their review, include state attorneys general offices on letters of inquiry to those companies, and consult with the attorneys general before determining the next steps.

DOT also will provide technical assistance and training to staff members in each attorney general’s office and will meet at least once a year with the staffers to assess ongoing efforts and to update them on any actions taken in response to referred complaints.

The agreement will be in force for two years. North Carolina or other participating states and DOT can extend it for two-year intervals after the original agreement ends, said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, whose state is part of the pact.

In 2022, Stein urged the federal government to strengthen protections for airline passengers and asked Congress to authorize state attorneys general to enforce federal consumer protection laws governing the airline industry.

The agreements could help solve complex jurisdictional issues, Kaul said.

As a hypothetical, he was asked which state has jurisdiction when an airline passenger who traveled from Baltimore to Milwaukee noticed on arrival that his suitcase was damaged.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “When a complaint comes to us, ultimately, we determine who needs to handle it. It is our hope we can help with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Transportation and other states with MOU (memorandum of understanding) agreements.”

More information on issues that travelers could be compensated for can be found on the U.S. DOT website.

Steve Schuster is the managing editor of the Wisconsin Law Journal, a BridgeTower Media publication.