Travel Technology Association Releases 2023 FAA Reauthorization Priorities

White Paper Submitted to House Transportation & Infrastructure  and Senate Commerce Committees

The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), the voice of the travel technology industry and consistent advocate for public policy that supports a competitive and transparent marketplace, released its priorities for the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization by Congress. The priority list and related justification for the recommendations are contained in a white paper submitted to the U.S. Senate’s Commerce Committee and U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

“The upcoming reauthorization of the FAA gives Congress a very timely opportunity to improve air travel for their constituents. Travel Tech members provide air travel booking services for millions of consumers each year,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association. “Our priorities for the reauthorization — ensuring ticket agents are a part of the US Department of Transportation’s consumer protection efforts, providing travelers with ancillary fee information early in the booking process and making timely refunds — are  aligned with Congressional efforts.”

Specific Travel Tech priorities include:

1. Congress should amend the law to add a ticket agent representative to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airline Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC) to expand its industry knowledge base and improve the quality of its recommendations, ultimately benefiting consumers.
2. Congress should allow ticket agents and airlines to have the flexibility to design appropriate displays of ancillary fees, which will allow for the development of more innovative methods of transparency for consumers.
3. Congress should provide guidance to the U.S. Department of Transportation that all entities that airlines use to distribute their faresshould receive ancillary fee information to provide consumers with the quickest, most direct solution to ancillary fee transparency.
4. Congress should continue to recognize the distinction between corporate travel agents and other types of ticket agents and again provide guidance to U.S. Department of Transportation that corporate travel agents should be exempted from the proposed rule.
5. Congress should affirm the U.S. Department of Transportation’s current policy on refund timing and advise the Department to abandon its proposed new policy.
6. Congress should support consumers by allowing ticket agents the flexibility to offer the purchase of ancillary fee-based services on their sites.
7. Congress should be aware that customer complaints against ticket agents continue to be a fraction of those filed against airlines, active rulemakings are already addressing customer service market failures, and a competitive, independent marketplace of ticket agents continues to provide consumers with a multitude of options to seek better customer service practices.

Find the White Paper here.

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About Travel Tech

The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) is the voice of the travel technology industry, advocating for public policy that promotes transparency and competition in the marketplace to encourage innovation and preserve consumer choice. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including global distribution systems, online travel agencies and metasearch companies, travel management companies, and short-term rental platforms.

To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Dan Rene of kglobal at 202-329-8357 or daniel.rene@kglobal.com.

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