I just received this email from the DOT. I'm sure its just a formality, but I really didn't expect any type of response. Its nice to know they are keeping track of complaints and monitoring for patterns.
This responds to your communication regarding Delta Airlines. The U.S. Department of Transportation seeks to ensure that all airline passengers are treated fairly. Complaints from consumers are helpful to us in determining whether the airlines are in compliance with our rules and to track trends or spot areas of concern that warrant further action.
Based on the information you have provided your complaint appears to fall under the Department's rules. We will forward your complaint to the airline and ask the company to respond directly to you with a copy to us. Airlines are required to acknowledge receipt of a consumer complaint within 30 days and provide a substantive response to the complainant within 60 days. We will review the airline's response. Due to the unprecedented number of complaints we have received in recent months, we are unable to accept telephone calls and are not able to respond promptly to email inquiries regarding specific issues in each individual's case.
If our review of your complaint and the response from the company discloses a potential violation of our rules, we may pursue enforcement action. Generally, we pursue enforcement action on the basis of a number of complaints which may indicate a pattern or practice of violating our rules. Your complaint may be among those considered and may lead to appropriate enforcement action including the assessment of civil penalties. However, we have no authority to order compensation for individual complainants.
We have entered your complaint in our industry monitoring system, and it will be counted among the number of complaints filed against this airline in our monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. This report allows consumers and air travel companies to compare the complaint records of individual airlines and tour operators. The data in this report also serve as a basis for rulemaking, legislation and research. Consumer information for air travelers, including the Air Travel Consumer Report and Fly-Rights, a Consumer's Guide to Air Travel, can be found on our website:
www.transportation.gov/airconsumer. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Sincerely,
Kimberly C. Hargett
United States Department of Transportation
Office of Aviation Consumer Protection
[email protected]
Case Number: KC2022060180