Letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren to US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx

1 am writing to express concerns over recent reports of anticompetitive behavior on the part of several major airlines that are restricting access to fee and schedule information to third party price comparison sites. Third party comparison websites can provide consumers with valuable pricing, scheduling, and fee information from all readily available options. However, several airlines are now restricting access to their respective fare and flight data, forcing consumers to obtain this information exclusively from airline’s websites, where the consumer does not have the ability to comparison shop. I believe these actions by some airlines to block fare transparency and restrict data are not in the best interests of the consumer. Therefore, I request that the Department of Transportation investigate this practice, and if the investigation proves conclusive-use its existing statutory authority under 49 U.S.C. § 41712 to require airline pricing transparency and prevent the withholding of fare and schedule information from travel websites that provide valuable comparison-shopping services for air travelers.