Bill Seeks to Cap Disaster Airfare
Joe Cortez September 15, 2017
Introduced resolution could affect airfare prices ahead of and after disasters or emergencies.
In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, a New York Congresswoman is introducing a bill that could limit the fares flyers pay before and after disasters. Rep. Nydia M. Velasquez (D-NY) introduced House Resolution 3473, known as the AirFAIR Act, which would set maximum caps on how much airlines can charge when a state of emergency is declared.
The act is introduced after all three legacy carriers were accused of price gouging passengers trying to escape the storm. According to some flyers, prices rose to as much as $3200 and $6,000 for one-way flights out of the storm’s way. In a statement, Vasquez noted that some flyers were offered fares of $1,738 from Miami to Indianapolis and $2,340 from Miami to Los Angeles.
If passed into law by Congress, the bill would prevent airlines from hiking prices by over 30 percent when a state, territory or possession declares a state of emergency. The proposal would also give the U.S. Department of Transportation authority to further cap prices for evacuees, or those returning home.
“Whether these drastic price increases are examples of intentional price gouging or an unwillingness to examine how the airlines’ computer systems function, doesn’t really matter,” Velázquez said in a press release. “If tickets get too unaffordable, people who might otherwise have fled a disaster may stay, creating a danger to human life.
While the bill has been introduced, it has not yet been sent to a committee for hearing. After the hiked airfares were discovered, many airlines, including American Airlines and JetBlue, noted they would voluntarily cap fares for evacuees.
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If prices are that high it indicates that there are NO available seat, and for every seat sold that way, someone else will stay on the ground.
So its better a flight leaves with some empty seats, leaving some people who might otherwise have fled a disaster to stay, creating a danger to human life, just to keep the purity of a "free market" ? Now that's stupid.
I looked up the $6000 MIA-DEN UA fare, and found that that is the EVERYDAY price for a full Y-fare. So it looks to me that the price wasn't raised at all. It's just the last-minute (oversell) booking into a full flight.
This is so stupid. Another example of politicians not understanding the free market. The prices does not rise because the airline want to profit on the disaster, the prices rise because there is not enough seats for everyone. People should be happy that airfare is just expensive - if there had been a bill like this in effect, there would not be any free seats! Stupid liberals.