# SILVERBERG GOLDMAN& BIKOFF, L.L.P. Georgetown Place • Suite 120 • 1101 30TH Street, NW • Washington, D.C. 20007 Voice (202) 944-3300 • Facsimile (202) 944-3306 ATTORNEYS AT LAW



### VIAE-MAIL Ms. Angelia Ames Docket Section U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200NewJersey Avenue, S.E. West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140 Washington, D.C. 20590 October 17, 2013

Re: BenjaminEdelman v. AmericanAirlines, Inc. Corrected Version ofthe Response ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. Docket DOT-OST-2013-0024 Dear Ms. Ames: As you requested, enclosedplease find the complete, corrected version ofthe Response ofAmericanAirlines, Inc. to the Supplemental Filing ofBenjamin Edelman. The enclosed corrected version ofthe Response includes the erratapage 3 that we filed withthe Department on October 16, 2013. Please do not hesitate to contact me ifyouhave any further questions. Very truly yours, SILVERBERG, GOLDMAN 

### & BIKOFF, LLP Attorneys for

# AM~MRLmE~ By: 

# 4**~~** 

# /_**//;1'~-** RobertP. Silverberg

# ~J cc: Samuel Podberesky, Esq. BenjaminEdelman, Esq.BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. BenjaminEdelman, Third-party Complainant



### v. American Airlines, Inc. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0024



### RESPONSE OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. TO SUPPLEMENTALFILING OFBENJAMIN EDELMAN Communications withrespect to this document shouldbe addressed to:

Alec Bramlett, Esq. Senior Litigation Attorney AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. MD 5675, P.O. Box 619616 DFWAirport, Texas 76261

Dated: October 7, 2013 Robert P. Silverberg, Esq. SILVERBERG, GOLDMAN & BIKOFF, LLP 1101 30th Street, NW Suite 120 Washington, DC 20007 Tel: 202-944-3300 E-Mail: rsilverberg@sgbdc.com Attorneys for 

### AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.BenjaminEdelman, BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Third-party Complainant ) ) )



### v. ) DocketDOT-OST-2013-0024 ) ) American Airlines, Inc. )

RESPONSE OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. TO SUPPLEMENTALFILING OF BENJAMIN EDELMAN American Airlines hereby responds to the Supplemental Filing ofBenjaminEdelman submitted in the above-referenced Docket on September 20, 2013. Mr. Edelman's Supplemental Filing purports to provide further examples ofpractices by Americanthat he maintains do not comply with the Department's full price advertising rule, 14 C.F.R. §399.84(a), and related DOT guidance. Specifically, Mr. Edelman claims that American's telephone reservations agents continue to include carrier-imposed charges in amounts quoted as "tax,"that American did not disclose a telephone ticketing service charge prior to ticketing, and that American's website presents carrier-imposed charges under the heading "Taxes & Fees." Mr. Edelman also gives examples ofinstances inwhich he claims American's website presented him with contradictory fare quotes. Mr. Edelman describes in sections I through III ofhis Supplemental Filing three telephone calls he made to American Airlines reservations agents. He claims that during each of the three calls American's reservations agents included carrier-imposed surcharges in amounts described as "taxes." While it may be correct that American's reservations agents inadvertently did so, except with respect to the $25 telephone ticketing fee discussed below, Mr. Edelman wasResponse ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. October 7, 2013 Page2 provided during these calls with accurate information regarding the total price ofthe ticket he

was purchasing. In addition, while American believes that itis imperativethat its reservations agents provide customers with accurate information regarding the components ofthe ticket price, the eTicket Itinerary & Receipt Confirmations that American sent after each ofthe three transactions described by Mr. Edelman provided an amount for "Taxes and Carrier-Imposed Fees" that equaled the amount described as "taxes" during the course ofthe telephone calls. Thus, evenif the reservations agent mistakenly included a carrier-imposed charge when stating the amount of the tax during the course ofthe telephone call, with one exception related to the telephone ticketing fee, Mr. Edelman was advised priorto purchase the correct full price, including all applicable taxes and carrier imposed fees. There clearly was no intent byAmerican to deceive Mr. Edelman and Mr. Edelman was not deceived since a proper description ofthe elements of the total price to bepaid for his transportation was provided on the eTicket Itinerary & Receipt Confirmation sent shortly after purchase. Nevertheless, the three calls described by Mr. Edelman indicate the need for Americanto provide yet additional training overthe original and supplemental training it has already provided its telephone reservations staffregarding howto accurately distinguishbetween government taxes and fees and carrier-imposed charges. As American explained inits March 22, 2013 answer to the original Edelman complaint, the company provides its telephone reservations agents all ofthe information necessary to fully and accurately address customers' questions regarding the amount ofapplicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees included inthe full price ofa ticket. After Mr. Edelman's February 4, 2013 complaintto the Department, Americanprovided its reservations agents with further instructions onhowto provide customers withpreciseResponse ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. October 7, 2013 Page 

### 3- Errata (10/16/2013) informationthat properly distinguishes betweentaxes and carrier-imposed fees. Despite these efforts, it appears based onMr. Edelman's Supplemental Filingthat some ofAmerican's reservations agents may not be acting in accordance with their training and instructions. While this is not intended to suggest that American's over4,000 telephone agents are not conscientious in performing their duties, American intends to redouble its efforts to ensure that all ofits telephone reservations agents are trained to the highest standards and are fully knowledgeable about howto provide customers with accurate and precise information regarding the components ofticketprices. Finally, American notes that it does not impose a fuel surcharge onany ofthe flights conducted byAmerican. Each ofthe three examples provided by Mr. Edelman involve inadvertent mistakes by American's reservations agents who did notproperly characterize surcharges that were imposed by American or by other carriers oninterline or codeshare flights sold by American. These were simply inadvertent errors bythe reservations agents involved and 

### itis clearly notthe intention ofAmericanto attempt to deceive its customers into thinking that surcharges imposed by American orby other carriers are actually government taxes. Norare any customers actually deceived as to the correcttotal price for their transportation because a carrier charge is incorrectly labeled a tax. In section IV ofhis Supplemental Filing, Mr. Edelman maintains that he was not advised ofa $25 telephone ticketing service fee before purchasing for his colleague an Around the World ticket and thathe first learned ofthe fee when it appeared onthe e-ticket confirmation sent after ticketing. However, Mr. Edelman fails to reveal inhis pleading that there is a pre-recorded message at the beginning ofhis telephone call to American's Around the World desk stating "Please note that ticketing and checked baggage charges may apply. CheckAA.com or withResponse ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. October 7, 2013 Page4 your reservations representative for details." Thus, while American agrees that the telephone reservations agent should have specifically advised Mr. Edelman as to the amount ofthe ticketing fee that applied to the transaction, and the agent's failure to do so was in violation of American's policy and procedure, Mr. Edelman was given notice at the beginning ofthe call that such a fee could apply. In section V ofhis Supplemental Filing, Mr. Edelman asserts that American's website presents fuel surcharges within "Taxes & Fees" and not in the fare and provides two screenshots from the AA.com website (Attachments 1and 2) to illustrate this issue. American appreciates the fact that the Department'sNotice dated February 21, 2012 addressed the issue ofpossible

consumer confusion ifcarriers combine under the heading of"taxes and fees" an amount that includes both government-imposedtaxes and carrier-imposed fees even ifthe carrier also states,

as required by §399.84(a), the full ticket price including all government taxes and carrierimposed fees. American agrees thatthe webpage and the pop-up shown in Attachments 1 and 2 ofthe Supplemental Filing can be revised to more clearly describe to customers what elements

are included in each ofthe components ofthe ticketprice. American's past efforts to ensure clarity on this pointwere initially focused onrevising website pages inconnection with award travel and to ensuring that its post-purchase confirmation documents included the correct heading. This effort has been expanded and bythe end ofthe week ofOctober 7, 2013 American will have revised all relevant webpages to clearly state "taxes and carrier-imposed fees" where today the heading "taxes and fees' is used as inAttachment 1 ofthe Supplemental Filing. In addition, the pop-up window shown in Attachment 2 ofthe Supplemental Filing has beenrevised to state even more clearly that the prices quoted include the base fare, carrier-imposed fees and government-imposed taxes and airport-imposed passenger facility charges. Withthese changes,Response ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. October 7, 2013 Page 5 American is confidentthatthere will be no consumer confusion regarding the elements ofthe prices chargedbythe carrier for air transportation. In section VI ofthe latest filing Mr. Edelman asserts in one instance andprovides a screenshot in another instance ofapparent arithmetic errors in the calculation offares offered by American. Upon receipt ofMr. Edelman's Supplemental Filing American began its inquiry into the issue raised bythe two examples cited. While American hoped to have developed a full understanding ofthe issues raised in this section ofthe Supplemental Filing in orderto provide the Department with a substantive response, it is unable to do so atthis time as its analysis has not yet been completed. Rather than seek additional time in which to respond, Americanhas chosen to file its response within the time it initially coordinated with the Department and to state its intention to file a further response upon completion ofits inquiryinto the subject matter ofsection VI ofthe Supplemental Filing.Response ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. October 7, 2013 Page 6 The Supplemental Filing submitted by Mr. Edelman raises certain issues that American has addressed or is continuing to address inthe interest ofmeeting boththe letter and spirit of DOT's regulations and policies. Having noted that, American maintains that the Department should dismiss the Complaintpursuantto Rule 406(a)(2) as the allegations do notrise to the level that warrant instituting formal enforcement action. Respectfully submitted, SILVERBERG, GOLDMAN & BIKOFF, L.L.P. Attorneys for AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

Dated: October 7, 2013CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have on this 

## ih day of October 2013, served a copy of the foregoing Response ofAmerican Airlines, Inc. by e-mail upon the following persons: Benjamin Edelman, Esq. 169 Walnut Street Brookline, MA 02445 ben@benedelman.org Samuel Podberesky, Esq. Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement & Proceedings U.S. Department ofTransportation sam.podberesky@dot.gov

L ef ey Johnson