Department of Transportation Fines Allegiant, Hawaiian Airlines

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Friday Allegiant Air and Hawaiian Airlines were issued fines for violating the airline consumer protection rules.

Allegiant was fined $250,000 and Hawaiian received a $125,000 fine.

The DOT’s Aviation Enforcement Office reported Allegiant failed on multiple occasions to give passengers with disabilities the required assistance within airport terminals. The airline was also found to be negligent in its response to complaints filed by passengers with disabilities.

Allegiant officials also reportedly failed to respond to consumer complaints or properly reimburse impacted travelers through refunds.

As for Hawaiian, the DOT levied its fine against the airline after it was discovered passengers with disabilities who had written formal complaints to the carrier had not received adequate responses.

Hawaiian was also accused of improperly categorizing and reporting disability-related complaints, as well as not paying travelers who were involuntarily denied boarding the proper compensation.

It’s been a rough week for Allegiant, as the carrier was attacked during Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes on CBS. The investigation by the news agency lasted seven months and found the carrier experienced more than 100 serious mechanical incidents between January 1, 2016, and October 31, 2017.

Allegiant officials released a statement o the 60 Minutes report:

This is the response to the @60minutes piece that Allegiant is sending to customers (as a link to a PDF in a Dropbox folder). pic.twitter.com/lfhxOQOD5H

— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower) April 16, 2018

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