II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3736 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 11 (legislative day, December 10), 2008 Mr. Menendez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend chapter 417 of title 49, United States Code, to require air carriers and ticket brokers to notify consumers of taxes, fees, charges, and fuel surcharges in a timely manner, and for other purposes.
1.
Airline ticket fee notification requirement
(a)
In general
Section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (c)
Notice of taxes, fees, charges, and fuel surcharges
(1)It shall be an unfair or deceptive practice under subsection (a) for any air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket broker— (A)to display the price of a ticket for air transportation without simultaneously displaying all taxes, fees, charges, and fuel surcharges applicable to such ticket; or (B)to fail to provide an online purchaser of a ticket for air transportation with information, including the amount and description, of each tax, fee, charge, and fuel surcharge applicable to such ticket before requiring such purchaser to provide any personal information, including name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and credit card information. (2)It shall be an unfair or deceptive practice under subsection (a) for any air carrier or foreign air carrier— (A)to fail to provide an online purchaser of a ticket for air transportation with information regarding fees for checked baggage, seating assignments, and optional in-flight goods and services; or (B)to increase the price of a ticket for air transportation through a fuel surcharge that is not correlated to the price of fuel paid by the air carrier or the amount of fuel used by such air carrier for such air transportation. . (b)
Rulemaking
The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, shall promulgate regulations to carry out section 41712(c) of title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), including establishing a procedure for determining whether fuel surcharges of an air carrier or foreign air carrier are sufficiently correlated to the fuel costs of such air carrier.