The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded back to the U.S. Transportation Department a rule that would require airlines to disclose full fares, including all ancillary fees, when a flight search is conducted.
The court ruled that the DOT failed to fully comply with requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act -- one of the arguments that the petitioners made when they sued the DOT over the rule. The APA is a federal law that regulates how U.S. government agencies create and issue rules.
The petitioners argued that the DOT justified the rule using cost-benefit data from a study that was not available during the notice-and-comment period, and the court agreed.
The petitioners are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, United, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and Frontier, plus trade association Airlines for America, the National Air Carrier Association and IATA. They had sued to vacate the rule, but the Fifth Circuit opted to remand it. The court affirmed the DOT's authority to issue rules addressing unfair or deceptive practices, but that the DOT failed to utilize a proper procedure.
Last July, the Fifth Circuit issued a stay of the rule, and the stay is still in place.