To	Whom	It	May	Concern:

I	recently	experienced	the	following	with	American	Airlines	and	believe	it	warrants	

review	by the	Department	of	Transportation	as	it	pertains	to	the	Complaint	of	

Benjamin	Edelman	Against	American	Airlines,	Inc.	

My	girlfriend	and	I	recently	booked	award	travel	on	AA	and	were	scheduled	to	fly	

ORD-DFW-CDG.	Our	tickets	were	booked	in	first	class	for	62,500	miles	and $5	in	US	

government	taxes	each.	Last	week	we	were	informed	of	a	schedule	and	equipment	

change	and	found	that	first	class	had	been	eliminated	from	DFW-CDG	and	we	would	

either	be	downgraded	or	have	to	find	alternate	routing.	We	elected	to	find	alternate	

routing.	The	only	option	allowing us	to	fly	first	class	on	the	transatlantic	flight, and	

also	reach	our	destination	with	only	two segments,	was	ORD-LHR-ORY.	The	ORDLHR flight is	operated	by	AA, while	the	LHR-ORY	flight	is	operated	by	British	

Airways.	

Subsequently,	we	were	charged	an	additional	$97.20	each	in	British	Airways	fuel	

surcharges.	Aside	from	the	fact	that	I	believe	good	customer	service	practices	

warrant	AA	picking	up	the	tab	for	additional	fees	due	to	a	change	in	routing/carrier

resulting	from the	airline’s	own	equipment	change, there	are	two	issues	

surrounding	this	which	I	believe	concern	the	DOT. Most	of	the	following	transpired	

during	phone	conversations	with	AA	representatives	and	I	have	already	asked	Gary	

Kennedy,	of	AA’s	legal	department,	to	see	to	it	that	the	recordings	of	these	

conversations	are	preserved	and	furnished	to	myself	and	the	DOT.

First,	and	most	relevant	to	Professor	Edelman’s	complaint,	is	the	

mischaracterization	of	carrier-imposed	fees	as	government	taxes.	In	attempting	to	

resolve	this	matter	with	AA	reservations,	I	spoke	to	several	agents,	each	of	whom	

referred	to	these	fees	as taxes,	along	with stating	that,	because	they	were taxes,	AA	

had	no	ability	to	refund	them.	Only	after	I	corrected	them	did	any	concede	that	these	

were,	in	fact,	carrier-imposed	fees.	I	even	asked	for	a	breakdown	of	what	portion	of	

the	$97.20	were	taxes	and	which	fees	and	the	agent	said	she	did	not	know	and	

would	have	to	refer	the	matter	to	her	rate	desk.	If	my	sample	is	representative	of	

AA’s	reservations	department	as	a	whole,	it	is	clear	that	these	fees	are	consistently	

referred	to	as	taxes.

Second,	and	perhaps	more	egregious,	was	the unauthorized	charging	of	credit	cards	

to	collect	these	fees.	When	making	the	initial	change	to	the	reservation	(to	reroute	

via	LHR	instead	of	DFW)	at	no	time	was	I	informed	of	the	extra	fees	and	I	certainly	

never	authorized	AA	to	charge	any	credit	cards	for	them.	This	in	spite	of	several	

agents	subsequently	telling	me	that	AA	has	no	way	of	charging	a	credit	card	without	

the	specific	authorization	of	the	cardholder.	
In	fact,	these	tickets	were	gifted	to	us	by	relatives	and	per	AA’s	own	policy,	any	taxes	

and	fees	(originally	$5	in	US	government	taxes)	must	be	paid	by	the	frequent	flyer	

account	holder,	not	the	traveler	(if	they	are	different	people).	It	was	those	relatives	

whose	cards	were	charged,	which	we	only	found	out	about	when	they	informed	us	

of	the	suspicious	charges.	Not	only	did	they	never	authorize	the	charging	of	those	

cards for	the	additional	fees,	I	did	not	even	have	them	in	my	possession to	facilitate	

their	charging,	which	runs	contrary	to	what	I	was	told	by	AA’s	reservation	agents.	

The	misclassification	of	carrier-imposed	fees	as	government	taxes	and	unauthorized	

charging	of	credit	cards	are,	at	best,	examples	of	carelessness	on	the	part	of	

American	Airlines.	While	I	will	not go	so	far	as	to	claim	the	deceptions	are	willful,

they	are	quite	troubling	none	the	less.	I	appreciate	your	consideration	in	this	matter	

and	hope	that	a	resolution	is	forthcoming	for	my	sake	and	that	of	the	traveling	

public.

Sincerely,

Daniel	G.	Palay