U.S. delays rules on airfare advertising, bag fees

Fliers won some and lost some Wednesday when the U.S. Department of Transportation revised effective dates for a hotly disputed rule that contains a grab-bag of consumer protections. Now some sections won’t take effect until next year; others will start Aug. 23 as originally planned. Here’s a scorecard for some key parts of the multi-part rule, which is labeled “Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections”:

-- A requirement that airlines advertise the full cost of airfares, including all mandatory taxes and fees, is being delayed until Jan. 24, 2012. It was originally scheduled to take effect Oct. 24. Besides government taxes and fees, the rule would require advertised fares to include airline-imposed mandatory fees, such as booking fees.

Various industry groups, including the Air Transport Assn. of America, lobbied for this delay, saying that they needed more time to update their software.

-- Requirements that airlines tell customers where to find baggage fees when they first display fare quotes and also show these fees on e-ticket confirmations are also being delayed to Jan. 24, 2012. They had been scheduled to take effect Aug. 23.

Airline industry groups had also lobbied for this delay. The Consumer Travel Alliance was among parties who had filed petitions against the delay.

-- Sections still scheduled to take effect Aug. 23 will give more money to “bumped” passengers; ban tarmac waits of more than four hours, without allowing passengers to deplane, on international flights; and require each airline to list its optional fees on a single Web page that is linked from its homepage.

-- Meanwhile, both Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air are challenging the new rules on various grounds in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C.