United, Delta, American Airlines Charged With Price Gouging as Irma Bears Down on Florida

Passengers have taken to social media to share their experiences of attempting to purchase flights out of the storm’s path.

With Hurricane Irma bearing down on the mainland United States, many in the path of the storm are urgently preparing their evacuation plans. But those attempting to make their way to safety via air have accused some of the nation’s major carriers of taking advantage of the sense of urgency caused by the natural disaster.

The Telegraph reports that passengers booking with United Airlines were quoted as much as $6,000 for a one-way ticket out of Miami to Atlanta with the carrier. This doesn’t appear to be a fluke and many travelers have taken to social media to share similar experiences of being quoted hugely inflated fare prices.

Inc. quoted passenger Leigh Dow as tweeting, “Shame on you @delta. Jacking from $547 to over $3200 for people trying to evacuate responsibly.”

American Airlines customer John Lyons posted his experience in attempting to purchase a ticket from the carrier on Facebook, saying, “Very bad job by American Airlines. Booked a one-way ticket last night for my daughter to come home this Thursday night using this exact itinerary. Paid $160.00. Now with hurricane warnings in effect, American is gouging for the same ticket to the tune of over $1000 per person and close friends daughter who cannot afford is stranded.”

Since this post, American has told the outlet that, “we will cap our pre-tax fares at $99 for Main Cabin seats on direct, single leg flights out of Florida for tickets sold through Sunday September 10 for travel until September 13.”

Meanwhile, both JetBlue and Delta have said that they will also be capping fares on flights out of the storm’s path until September 13^th.

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate these allegations of price gouging by airlines.

They made their views known in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, saying, “It would certainly be offensive if airlines – who rely on publicly supported infrastructure and have been bolstered by American taxpayers for nearly a century – used this opportunity to impose unconscionable costs on consumers.”

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