Order 2012-7-13

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the Twelfth day of July, 2012

Vision Airlines, Inc. Docket OST 2012-0002

Served July 12, 2012

Violations of 14 CFR 382 and 399 and 

 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 41712

 

CONSENT ORDER

This order concerns violations by Vision Airlines, Inc., (Vision) of the Department’s fullfare advertising rule, 14 CFR 399.84, as well as 49 U.S.C. § 41712, which prohibits 

carriers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices. It also covers violations by 

Vision of 14 CFR Part 382 and 49 U.S.C. § 41705 with respect to the carrier’s failure to 

timely and accurately file annual reports detailing disability-related complaints received by 

the carrier. The order directs Vision to cease and desist from future violations of Parts

382 and 399 and sections 41705 and 41712 and assesses the carrier a compromise civil 

penalty of $75,000.

Violations of the Department’s Full-Fare Advertising Rule

As an air carrier, Vision is subject to the advertising requirements of Part 399 of the 

Department’s rules. Pursuant to 14 CFR 399.84, advertisements specifying airfares must 

state the full price to be paid by the consumer. Under long-standing enforcement case 

precedent that expired on January 25, 2012,1 the Department allowed taxes and fees 

 1 On April 20, 2011, the Department issued a rule changing its enforcement policy with respect to section 

399.84 to require that airlines and ticket agents comply with the rule as written. Under this new 

enforcement policy, which became effective January 26, 2012, airlines and ticket agents must include all 

government taxes and fees in every advertised fare. The Department’s long-standing prohibition, as 
2

collected by carriers and ticket agents, such as passenger facility charges and departure 

taxes, to be stated separately from base fares in advertisements so long as such taxes and 

fees were levied by a government entity, were not ad valorem in nature, i.e., not assessed 

as a percentage of the fare price, were collected on a per-passenger basis, and their 

existence and amounts were clearly indicated at the first point in the advertisements 

where a fare was presented so that consumers could immediately determine the full fare 

to be paid. Carrier or ticket agent-imposed charges, such as fuel surcharges and 

administrative fees were not permitted to be stated separately from the advertised fare.

Thus, for example, fare advertisements that 1) failed entirely to identify the existence and 

amount of separate additional taxes and fees at the first point at which a fare was 

displayed, 2) included only general statements regarding the existence of such taxes and 

fees, or 3) separately stated carrier-imposed fees did not comply with section 399.84, or 

the Department’s enforcement case precedent. Violations of section 399.84 constitute 

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

With respect to Internet fare listings, additional charges that properly may be stated 

separately from the advertised fare were allowed to be disclosed through a prominent link 

placed adjacent to the stated fares that noted that taxes and fees were extra. The link was 

required to directly take the viewer to the bottom of the screen, to a pop-up, or to a place 

on a separate screen where the nature and amount of taxes and fees were prominently and 

immediately displayed.2

An investigation by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement 

Office) revealed that Vision advertised air fares that were followed by asterisks that 

referred consumers to a general statement below each fare alerting consumers, without 

further elaboration, that the fares “exclude[ed] taxes and fees,” but gave no information 

as to the nature or amount of those taxes and fees. Consumers were then required to 

input a proposed itinerary on Vision’s website to determine the associated taxes and fees 

for the fares advertised on its homepage. Accordingly, Vision’s advertisements violated 

the Department’s full-fare advertising rule, 14 CFR 399.84, and the prohibition against 

unfair and deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition, 49 U.S.C. § 41712.

 

described above, on omitting carrier- or agent-imposed charges, such as fuel surcharges or convenience 

fees, from advertised fares remains in effect. 

2 For example, under the enforcement policy in effect prior to January 26, 2012, a carrier or ticket agent 

could advertise a flight in the following manner: $260 + Taxes and Fees with the taxes and fees language as 

a hyperlink that took the viewer directly to the bottom of the screen, or to the place on a separate screen, 

where the nature and amount of taxes and fees were prominently and immediately displayed. See 

Department notices entitled “Disclosure of Air Fare Variations: Web vs. Other Sources, Surcharges that 

May be Listed Separately in Advertisements,” dated November 4, 2004; “Disclosure of Additional Fees, 

Charges and Restrictions on Air Fares in Advertisements, Including ‘Free’ Airfares,” dated September 4, 

2003; and “Prohibition on Deceptive Practices in the Marketing of Airfares to the Public Using the 

Internet,” dated January 18, 2001, available at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/guidance.htm. 
3

Violation of the Department’s Rule Requiring Reports of 

Disability-Related Complaints

Under 14 CFR 382.157, covered carriers (i.e., U.S. and foreign air carriers operating 

passenger service to, from, or within the United States with at least one aircraft having a 

design capacity of more than 60 passenger seats) must, among other things, submit an 

annual report to the Department summarizing the disability-related complaints that they 

received during the previous calendar year.3 The annual report to the Department is due 

each year on the last Monday in January. The annual report for calendar year 2009 was 

due on January 25, 2010, and the annual report for calendar year 2010 was due on 

January 31, 2011. 

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), 49 U.S.C. § 41705, among other things, requires

that the Secretary of Transportation “regularly review all complaints received by air 

carriers alleging discrimination on the basis of disability and report annually to Congress 

on the results of such review.” The Enforcement Office has made efforts to ensure that 

carriers file disability-related reports in compliance with section 382.157 by providing

carriers and carrier associations information about the disability reporting requirements 

and posting a copy of the disability reporting rule on its Aviation Consumer Protection 

Division’s website.

Vision is a U.S. covered carrier for the purposes of section 382.157. Vision failed to 

submit its annual report detailing disability-related complaints to the Department for

calendar year 2009 and it submitted its report for calendar year 2010 on May 25, 2011, 

nearly four months late. In doing so, Vision violated section 382.157(d) and the ACAA.

Mitigation

In mitigation, Vision states that it had just begun to operate large aircraft scheduled 

service during the covered period. Vision asserts that it addressed both of the violations 

as soon as practicable after it became aware of them, and these violations are not of the 

type that are likely to be repeated. 

With respect to the violations of the Department’s old full-fare advertising rule, Vision 

asserts that it had been in regular communications with Enforcement Office staff 

regarding advertising compliance and remedied any observed deficiencies as soon as it 

became aware of them. Moreover, the carrier states that it was only due to a technical 

problem that the appropriate information on taxes and fees was not available through an 

active hyperlink. 

 3 In addition, the rule requires a carrier to record complaints that it receives alleging discrimination or 

inadequate accessibility on the basis of a disability. The complaints are to be categorized according to the 

passenger’s type of disability and the nature of the complaint. The rule also requires that covered carriers 

retain a copy of each disability-related complaint that the carrier receives and a record of the action taken 

on the complaint for three years. 
4

Regarding the violations of the Department’s disability-reporting regulations, Vision 

states that the first calendar year for which Vision was required to report disability 

complaints was 2009. Vision explains that it did not receive any disability complaints 

that year and misunderstood its obligation to file negative reports. Vision further 

explains that not having previously filed any disability reports, Vision inadvertently 

missed its January 2011 filing deadline for reporting any 2010 complaints – of which 

there was only one. Vision states that it is now appropriately registered for disability 

reporting and has since began submitting its required reports.

Decision

The Enforcement Office has carefully considered the information provided by Vision and 

continues to believe that enforcement action is warranted. The Department views 

compliance with the Federal aviation statutes and regulations very seriously. The 

Enforcement Office and Vision have reached a settlement of this matter in order to avoid 

litigation. Without admitting or denying the violations described above, Vision consents 

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

14 CFR Parts 399 and 382 and 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 41712, and to the assessment of 

$75,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise due and payable pursuant to 

49 U.S.C. § 46301.4 

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

violations described herein and serves the public interest. It represents a strong deterrent 

against future similar unlawful practices by Vision and by all air carriers. 

 4 Although Vision and the Enforcement Office have agreed to settle this matter under the terms 

specified in this order, this order does not absolve Vision of its responsibility to comply with the 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. § 40117 and 14 CFR Part 158 concerning the collection and remittance of 

passenger facility charges (PFCs), a matter the Enforcement Office also reviewed.
5

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR 1.57a and 14 CFR 385.15.

ACCORDINGLY,

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

order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that Vision Airlines, Inc., violated 14 CFR 399.84 by failing to disclose taxes 

and fees required to be paid in connection with advertised fares;

3. We find that by engaging in the conduct described in ordering paragraph 2, above, 

Vision Airlines, Inc., engaged in unfair and deceptive practices and unfair methods of 

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

4. We find that Vision Airlines, Inc., violated 14 CFR 382.157 by failing to timely submit 

to the Department of Transportation its annual reports detailing the disability-related 

complaints it received in calendar years 2009 and 2010; 

5. We find that Vision Airlines, Inc., in the instances described in ordering paragraph 4, 

above, violated the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C. § 41705;

6. We order Vision Airlines, Inc., and all other entities owned or controlled by, or under 

common ownership and control with Vision Airlines, Inc., their successors, affiliates,

and assigns, to cease and desist from further violations of 14 CFR 399.84, 14 CFR 

382.157, and 49 U.S.C. §§ 41705 and 41712;

7. We assess Vision Airlines, Inc., $75,000 in compromise of civil penalties that might 

otherwise be assessed for the violations described in ordering paragraphs 2 through 4, 

above. Of this total penalty amount, $37,500, shall be due and payable within 30 

days of the date of issuance of this order. The remaining $37,500 shall be due and 

payable within 90 days of the date of issuance of this order; and 

8. We order Vision Airlines, Inc., to pay the penalty through Pay.gov to the account of 

the U.S. Treasury. Payment shall be made in accordance with the instructions 

contained in the Attachment to this order. Failure to pay the penalty as ordered shall 

subject Vision Airlines, Inc., 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.
6

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:

SAMUEL PODBERESKY

 Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at

www.regulations.gov