BEFORETHEU.S.DEPARTMENTOFTRANSPORTATIONOFFICEOFAVIATIONENFORCEMENTANDPROCEEDINGSWASHINGTON,D.C.BenjaminEdelmanandJasonSteele,Third-partyComplainants,vs.DeltaAirLines,Inc.DocketDOT-OST-2015-0001ANSWEROFDELTAAIRLINES,INC.TOTHIRD-PARTYCOMPLAINTCommunicationswithrespecttothisdocumentshouldbedirectedto:January20,2015Jon-PeterF.KellyAssistantGeneralCounselDeltaAirLines,Inc.Department9811030DeltaBoulevardAtlanta,Georgia30354-1989Tel:(404)714-5631Fax:(404)677-2971Email:jonpeter.f.kelly@delta.comBEFORETHEU.S.DEPARTMENTOFTRANSPORTATIONOFFICEOFAVIATIONENFORCEMENTANDPROCEEDINGSWASIDNGTON,D.C.BenjaminEdelmanandJasonSteele,Third-partyComplainants,vs.DocketDOT-OST-2015-0001DeltaAirLines,Inc.ANSWEROFDELTAAIRLINES,INC.TOTHIRD-PARTYCOMPLAINTPursuantto14C.F.R.§302.405(a),DeltaAirLines,Inc.,("Delta")answerstheabovecaptionedthird-partycomplaintand,forthereasonssetforthherein,urgestheDepartmentofTransportation("theDepartment")todismissthecomplaintwithoutfurtherinvestigationoraction.1Deltaisfullyawareof,andtakescaretoremaincompliantwith, theDepartment'sguidanceastotheonlinedisplayoftaxesandcarrier-imposedfees.SeeNotice,"AdditionalGuidanceonAirfare/AirTourPriceAdvertisements,"U.S.DepartmentofTransportation,OfficeoftheSecretary,February21,2012.However,asallcarriersdo,Deltaperiodicallyupdatesitswebsite,Delta.com.OnNovember15,2014,Deltarolledoutupdatestothesite.ThoseupdatesincludedthefaredisplaysforticketsredeemablewithmilesfromDelta'sSkyMilesfrequentflyerprogram.Thoseupdates,unfortunately,resultedintheerroneousidentificationofcertainchargesas"taxes,"whenthosesumsincludedcarrier-imposedfees,incertainunusualfrequentflyeraward-redemptionsituations.1ThecaptiononthecomplainterroneouslyidentifiesDeltaas"DeltaAirlines."DeltacorTectsthaterrorinthecaptiontothisanswer.

## A s n o ted

i n th e wmp la i 11t, the m i sidenti

fi cation

o n l y affect ed a ver y pa r t icu

l ar subse

t 

# or t ran sa ct i ons o n D e l ta

. co m: a ward re d cPlpt

i ons made with Delta

S l-.. yMilcs for

i t i ne r a r ies o ri g i na tin g in Europe Stand ard cash or **credit~card**



## p urchase

s ( i .e .. n ot Sk.yM

il es redempti ons
) wen

:: unaffected. bt.!cause fare displays for those transc.t<..tions show the full price. wi t h no separate breakout of taxes. Sec 

## Exhib

it 1 . A
s 

## f or SkyMiles redemptions


## for itineraries



## o n ginating anywhere except Europe.

t h e ref"t!ren

c e t o "ta- x es " was actually correct because the cash c.:omponent

o n those av,:ard-

r cdcmption

t ra n sactions did not include any 

## carrier-imposed

c h arge!>

. 

## Delta was unaware of the erroneous '·tax" dic;play
in these unusualtransact!ons

until

i t 

## \\'as served
w i th the compla

i nt on January


## 6. 2015

. Once the **~!> t!**  \\aS 

## brought
to 

## our attention howeve

r , \VC 

## corrected

it within 48 hours. By January

8, the \Vor d ''t a xes" was

r emoved from liH.: 

## fare display

f or all SkyMiles redemptions regardles

s of origination. Sec Exhibit

2 . In the attached exhibit
2, fo r example,

t he fare tor 

## a round tnp

i ti n erary fro m Paris to Nt:w York
is disp a)cd as 60,000 [milesl plus 085
**~5**

**.** 

## No **rcfer~nce**



## is m ade

t o "taxes'" .,sa component

o f th e fare

. W i th this cor rect

i o n . th e displ ay is n<'W



## f ull y co mpl

i an t w i th t he **Depa tme**  **t'~** 

## l'ebruary 2012 

## gUidance. 

## O n e re as on tha
t D ..::lt a was 

## u na ware of th c error until

t he co m plaint was

<: c1-vcd



## i s t h J11he 

## 1 t in cr a n es that lhts cn·o

r a ffected were so rare

. ln the relev
a nt period of i'olovember
IS. **~0** 

## 14 (when Delta.com was upd a te d a nd the error occurred).

to Ja n u ar y 8. 20 1 S (when the erro
r w a s c o rr e cte d).
t here were 

## oYer

3 .?5 m illi on ticket transactions

o n Dclt a.c om

. Of th osc tru n sactionc;, 1e \ v c r t han 5 00 were Sky 

## Miles re d emptions for itineranes
ori g i na t ing out o f Europe

1 

## In othe
r word s, le ss th an 0.0 2% o f D elta

' s on lin e c ustomer

s re deeme

d ti c kets
a fter

s eeing tht: tr ran
t d i spl a]. 1 

### Of
t h nt fi g u re, so me c u s tomer

s m udc **pu cha~e** 

**s** 

### for iti nera
r ies th at never touched

t h e U n i ted Sr.a
t ..: 1' at al l (e.g

. . tl}


### i ng fro m Europe
to Sou

t h A me r i ca). Exclu
d i n g t hose **itiner arie~** 



### t he n u m ber dr o ps
t o fe wer

t h a n 4 00. 

## 2



# ..Alt h ough the comp la inants

a ll ege

· 'harm

.. to consumers, Ddla notes that no CLLStomers \>,'ere actually harmed many way. Delta does no t **dispu~e** that it was inaccurate

to identify 1he ca sh component

in these unusual tran sactions
as .. t axes" when

i t actuall

y incl uded

acarrierimposed surcharge

. but all customers who saw thi::; enoncous display on
t klta.com were fully an d accurately apprised ofthc tota

l price. in terms of both miles und cash. in the initial fare display of their shopping experience

. Again, using the attached example from

r :xhibit
2. th e initial fare display disclosed that the total price would be 60.000 miles plus €385.25.

l ithcr the customer **wa~** willing
to pay that amount,
or not. Whether the entire cash component ultimately goes Lo Delta or is remitted by Ddta to a government entity has no impact

o n the tustomer either way. And as the complaint acknowledges

, the exact allocation oCthe cash component,

in c lu ding the amount that was
a carrier-imposed surcharge. was clearly disclosed
by Delta during the transaction

i n the pop-up box d is played atier one click to any customer fo:- \vhom this detai

l \\

· as material. /\::;the complainants'' O\\'ll allegations make clear. they were fu ll y awa re of the surcharge component and were not deceived

in any ,,·ay. fina
ll y, Del ta notes

t hat

t he present issue is almost identical
to that ra i sed by complainant Edelman

in a matter he initiated by third-party wmplaint against Cathay Paci1ic Airways Limited ("C a thay Pacific'')

in 2013. Edelman

Y. Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Order 2013-8 23 (A u gus

t 29 2013). As here. Mr Ed elman complained that some of Cathay Pacific's fare disp lays (which were generated through

a third-party booking engine) inco

r rec
t ly ident ified sum
s that included carrier-imposed
fcl!s as ·'taxes:·

l d. at 2. C ath ay Pacific conced ed the error and indicated that it \\·orkcd with the third -part) bo oki n g eng ine to correct

t he pro blem

.. ,,.· i t hin l\.\0 weeks of th e !il i ng of Mr. Fdel man 's compla

i nt.''

! d. In light 

## o r '· th e prompt and complet

e rem edial ac t i on un d er1aken by Cathay and

[ th e third-par

t y booking engine],'' the Dcpar1ment 3

### determmed that

.. civil penalties [wejre 

### not v.arranted.'"

3 

### l d. 

### at 3. The 

### Department ordered Catha; Pacit ic 

### to cease and desist 

### from similar violations, and **i~misscd** 

### the 

### complaint.

!d. The onl) factual ditfercnce between the Cathay Pacific case and ,his one is that Delta con-cctcd


### its 

### n1re disp

l ays in two days, 

### no t two weeks. 

### Hence, Delta submits that the same 

### resolution should be 

### implemented here:

a dismissal ofthc complaint 

### \Vithout the 

### imposition
of 

### any civil penalties. 

### WHERErORE. Delta Air Lines. In<.: .. respectfully tequests 

### that the **Dcpartm~nt**



### d i srmss the nbovc-captioned third pan) complaint without further 

### investigatio11

or action. Dated: January 20 2015 

### Respectful!> submitted. 

# By: 

# _fjc
- I Jon -Peter F. Kelly 

# =-=--""" V Assistant Gc; n eral Counsel Dt.. t. _ 

### \ir :., nes

, Inc

. Dep'lr mcnt 981 1030 Delta Boulevard Atlanta Georgia 30354-1989 

### Tel

: (404) 714-5631 fax

: ( 404) 677-2971 

### Email: jonpeter.f.kelly@dclta.com J 1\s here, comp

l ainant Edelman reque ste d that the Department **ord~r** Ca thay Pacific
to refund monie

s that we r e pa id t() r the affected **ticket~.** Edelman

v **(~thav** Pacific Airwavs Lim it e d , Order 2013-8 23, **at~** (/\ u gu-;

t **~9,** 2013
). T he Dcp<:rtment obviously denied lhat request
as
i nappropriate.

T he same analysis applies
to Delta here. T he request should be denied.



### 4EXH

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### C ERTIHCA

T E O F SERV

I CE I hereb
y c.:erti

f y t h a t , on

t his 20t h day ofl anuary. 

### 20 1 5, [caused

a co p y o fthc 

### foregoing .1\nswcr

, to be se r ved
o n th e 

### fo llow ing perso
n s : Benjami

n Edelman .J ason
S teele B lane Wo rkie 

### K i mberly Graber

be n @bencdclman.org 

### jasondstec

l c@gmai

l .com blane. workie@dot.gov kimberly

. grabcr@,dot. gov