DOT Fines Virgin America for Incomplete Disability Complaint Reports, Not Properly Responding to Complaints

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today assessed a civil penalty against Virgin America for filing incomplete reports with the Department about complaints registered by passengers with disabilities and for not responding adequately to these complaints. The carrier was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $100,000. DOT rules require airlines to record disability-related complaints, categorize them by the type of disability and nature of the complaint, and submit an annual report on these complaints to the Department. If a single consumer correspondence covers more than one issue, each issue must be counted as a separate complaint. In addition, if an airline receives a written complaint alleging a violation of the Departments disability rules, the carrier must provide a written response within 30 days that specifically discusses the complaint, gives the carriers view of whether a violation occurred, and states that the complaint may be referred to DOT for an investigation. In July 2011, the Departments Aviation Enforcement Office conducted a routine on-site inspection at Virgin Americas corporate headquarters, where it reviewed all disability-related complaints received by the carrier. The Enforcement Office found that in many instances, Virgin America failed to provide a written response that addressed the consumers complaint. In addition, Virgin America failed to properly categorize and account for all the disability-related issues that were raised in the complaints the carrier received during 2008 and 2009. As a result, a number of complaints were missing from Virgin Americas annual reports submitted to the Department in 2009 and 2010.