Travel Web sites are using a “bait and switch” tactic to lure air travelers onto small, regional airlines that are “less safe and less reliable” than their brand-name counterparts, Sen. Chuck Schumer said yesterday.
The New York Democrat is proposing a law that would require airlines and travel sites to disclose the name of the carrier customers will be flying.
“It’s more and more likely [New Yorkers] are being dumped to a smaller, unknown regional carrier that has been known to be less safe and less reliable, and they don’t even know it,” Schumer said.
He added that most of the 50 victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407, which crashed in Buffalo in February, were under the impression it was a Continental Airlines flight.
“We need to bring more truth in advertising to travel Web sites to prevent people from accidentally booking a flight on a regional carrier operating a route for a major airline,” Schumer said.