Bloomberg had very interesting story up on its website today about US airlines and their quest to lobby the current government to get “full-fare advertising” and requirement to show on-time flight and cancellation information canned.
Airlines around the world try to do their best to obfuscate the price of their product. In many countries, the airlines advertise very low headline prices and then add their hefty fees and government taxes. No traveler wants this.
Here’s an excerpt from the piece (access the entire article here):
In December the airlines sent a lengthy series of requests to the U.S. Department of Transportation that’s being evaluated. Among the priorities: repealing rules that mandate “full-fare advertising” and eliminating the requirement to display on-time flight and cancellation data during the fare-purchase process. In other words, they’re hoping to conceal the data that power third-party distribution channels—and all their shiny new features.
A representative for Airlines 4 America, the leading industry group, tells Bloomberg that the current requirements are “cumbersome” and “add clutter and complexity to the booking screen.” But these details are obviously what consumers want; exposing them is just not in the interest of the companies.
Conclusion
I truly hope that the requirement to show all inclusive prices for travelers originating from the United States stays as well as the on-time and cancellation performance information during the purchase process.
Why would you purchase a flight that has very high delay/cancellation ratio especially if you are connecting to another flight?
Nobody wants to see the “fake” pricing to return where airlines advertise very low headline prices that double/triple/quadruple/quintuple/sextuple (or worse) after all the fees/surcharges/taxes are added
