Order 2014-7-18 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 25th day of July, 2014

Turkish Airlines Docket OST 2014-0001

(Türk Hava Yollari, A.O.)

Served July 25, 2014

Violations of 14 CFR 259.5, 14 CFR 259.7, 

14 CFR 382.155, and 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 

41712

CONSENT ORDER

This consent order concerns violations by Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yollari, A.O.)

(THY) of 14 CFR 259.5 and 259.7 requiring carriers to provide timely substantive 

written responses to written consumer complaints and 14 CFR 382.155 requiring carriers 

to provide timely dispositive written responses to written disability-related air travel 

complaints alleging a violation of 14 CFR Part 382. A violation of 14 CFR Part 259 is 

also a violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712, which prohibits carriers from engaging in unfair 

and deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition. A violation of 14 CFR 

Part 382 constitutes a violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41705 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712. This order 

directs THY to cease and desist from future similar violations and assesses a compromise 

civil penalty of $300,000.

 

Applicable Law

14 CFR Part 259 provides for enhanced protections for airline passengers. Pursuant to 

14 CFR 259.7(c), covered carriers1 must acknowledge receipt of written complaints 

regarding scheduled service within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. Within 60 days 

of receipt of the complaint, the carrier must provide a substantive written response to the 

complaint.2 Further, pursuant to 14 CFR 259.5(b)(11), a covered carrier must adhere to a 

 1 For the purposes of 14 CFR Part 259, covered carriers are certificated, commuter, or foreign air carriers 

operating to, from, or within the United States, conducting scheduled passenger service or public charter 

service with at least one aircraft having a designed seating capacity of 30 or more seats. 

2 The Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings policy permits carriers to respond to consumer 

complaints under 14 CFR 259.7(c) through a telephone call provided that the carrier maintains a record of 

the conversation(s), including the name of the carrier employee, the name of the individual with whom the 
2

customer service plan which includes a commitment that ensures responsiveness to 

consumer problems. Failure to provide a written acknowledgment within 30 days and a 

written substantive response within 60 days violates sections 259.5 and 259.7 and 

constitutes an unfair and deceptive practice in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712.

14 CFR Part 382 implements the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), 49 U.S.C. § 41705, 

and violations of that part also violate the ACAA. Violations of the ACAA and Part 382 

are unfair and deceptive practices in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712. Pursuant to 

14 CFR 382.155(d), covered carriers3 are required to provide a dispositive written 

response to a written complaint alleging a violation of Part 382 within 30 days of receipt 

of the complaint. An appropriate dispositive response must specifically discuss the 

complaint at issue, specifically admit or deny whether the carrier believes that a violation 

of Part 382 occurred under the circumstances, summarize the facts that led the carrier to 

its conclusion of whether or not a violation of Part 382 occurred, and advise the 

complainant of his or her right to refer the matter to the Department for an investigation. 

Facts and Conclusions

THY is a foreign air carrier based in Istanbul, Turkey, that operates scheduled passenger 

service to and from the United States using at least one aircraft having a design seating 

capacity of more than 60 passenger seats. Therefore, THY is subject to the response 

requirements of 14 CFR Parts 259 and 382. The Department’s Office of Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office) found that since August 23, 2011, 

the effective date of 14 CFR Part 259 to foreign carriers, THY failed to provide timely 

responses to a large number of consumer complaints and several disability-related 

complaints that the Department’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD) 

received directly from consumers and forwarded to the carrier. THY also did not assure 

the Department that it provided substantive responses to the larger amount of complaints 

that it received directly from consumers, although such complaints were timely 

acknowledged. The carrier acknowledged that since rapidly expanding its U.S. presence, 

it had fallen behind in adequately staffing its customer service department. After being 

contacted by the Enforcement Office, THY provided responses to the overdue consumerand disability-related complaints that the ACPD had forwarded to the carrier and made

significant changes to its procedures for handling consumer complaints, and committed 

additional resources to ensure future compliance with sections 14 CFR 259.5(b)(11), 

14 CFR 259.7(c), and 14 CFR 382.155(d).

 

employee spoke, the date and time of the call, and a summary of the substance of the conversation 

sufficient to permit a reviewer to determine whether the principal issue in the complaint were addressed. 

See Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Enforcement of the Second Final Rule on 

Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections (EAPP #2), Section VII, Question #7, Revised on June 15, 2012, 

available at www.dot.gov/airconsumer. 

3 For the purposes of section 382.155, covered carriers are U.S. and foreign air carriers operating passenger 

service to, from, or within the United States with at least one aircraft having a design seating capacity of 

more than 19 seats.
3

Mitigation

In mitigation, THY states that it is fully committed to observing the Department’s 

consumer protection requirements and to providing outstanding customer service. THY 

points out that it has fully cooperated with the Department during its investigation. THY 

also states that it has substantially expanded its U.S. services in recent years, thus 

creating an increased workload on its customer service department. According to the 

carrier, on its own initiative, it provided vouchers to complainants who may not have 

received a timely complaint response, regardless of the merits of the complaint. THY 

states that in order to ensure prompt responses and improved customer service, THY has 

centralized and prioritized its complaint response coordination; quadrupled the number of 

customer service agents in the United States; implemented new complaint management 

software; retrained its customer service employees; and has adopted, or is experimenting 

with, a number of other customer service-related improvements.

THY also states that it has made significant system-wide investments in baggage tracking 

and reconciliation systems, including systems for managing passenger claims and 

replacing damaged passenger luggage from a stock maintained by THY, all of which are 

part of THY’s ongoing efforts to enhance and improve customer service.

Decision

The Enforcement Office has carefully considered the information provided by THY but 

continues to believe that enforcement action is warranted. The Enforcement Office and 

THY have reached a settlement of this matter in order to avoid litigation. THY consents 

to the issuance of this order to cease and desist from future similar violations of 14 CFR 

Parts 259 and 382, and 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 41712, and to the assessment of $300,000 

in compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise due and payable pursuant to 

49 U.S.C. § 46301.

This compromise assessment is appropriate considering the nature and extent of the 

violations described herein and the size and sophistication of the carrier, and serves the 

public interest. It provides a strong incentive for THY and other carriers to provide 

substantive and dispositive responses to complaints in a timely manner, as required.

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR Part 1.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Based on the above discussion, we approve this settlement and the provisions of 

this order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that Turkish Airlines violated 14 CFR 259.5(b)(11) and 259.7(c) by 

failing to provide timely substantive responses to complaints involving scheduled 

service;
4

3. We find that Turkish Airlines violated 14 CFR 382.155(d) by failing to provide 

timely dispositive written responses to written complaints alleging a violation of 

Part 382;

4. We find that Turkish Airlines in the instance described in ordering paragraph 3, 

above, violated 49 U.S.C. § 41705;

5. We find that by engaging in the conduct described in paragraphs 2 through 4, 

above, Turkish Airlines engaged in unfair and deceptive practices and unfair 

methods of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712;

6. We order Turkish Airlines its successors, its affiliates, and all other entities owned 

by, controlled by, or under common ownership and control with Turkish Airlines

its successors, its affiliates, and its assigns to cease and desist from further 

violations of 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 41712 and 14 CFR Parts 259 and 382; 

7. We assess Turkish Airlines a compromise civil penalty of $300,000 in lieu of civil 

penalties that might otherwise be assessed for the violations found in ordering 

paragraphs 2 through 5, above; 

a. $280,000 of the assessed civil penalty shall be due and payable within 60 days 

of the service date of this order; and

b. $20,000 of the assessed penalty shall be credited to Turkish Airlines for 

vouchers that were provided to affected consumers;

4 and

 

8. We order Turkish Airlines to pay the penalty as ordered in paragraph 7 through 

Pay.gov to the account of the U.S. Treasury. Payments shall be made in 

accordance with the instructions contained in the Attachment to this order. 

Failure to pay the penalty as ordered shall subject Turkish Airlines to the 

assessment of interest, penalty, and collection charges under the Debt Collection 

Act and to further enforcement action for failing to comply with this order.

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its service date 

unless a timely petition for review is filed or the Department takes review on its own 

motion.

BY:

BLANE WORKIE

Acting Assistant General Counsel for

 Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

An electronic version of this document is available at

www.regulations.gov

 4 This credit is based on 80 percent of the value of the vouchers provided to affected consumers.