Transportation Chief: 5 Airlines probed for price-gouging

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said today the government has opened a price-gouging investigation involving five airlines that allegedly raised airfares in the Northeast after a deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia in May disrupted rail service.

The Transportation Department sent letters to Delta, American, United, Southwest and JetBlue airlines seeking information on their prices before and after the May 12 train crash.

Among the routes the department asked airlines for price information on were flights to certain Northeast destinations from Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport near Washington, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, three New York area airports – Newark, John F. Kennedy, and LaGuardia, Logan International Airport in Boston; MacArthur Airport-Long Island in New York, Green Airport in Rhode Island., and Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.

"The idea that any business would seek to take advantage of stranded rail passengers in the wake of such a tragic event is unacceptable," Foxx said.

The department is exploring whether the price hikes violated federal regulations prohibiting airlines from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices. The letters to airlines explain that generally a practice is "unfair" if it "causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers," cannot be reasonably avoided by consumers and "is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumer or competition."