What Is the Duty of Travel Agents Regarding Airline Safety Issues?

By now, most travel agents have likely seen or read the reported gist of the “60 Minutes” coverage of maintenance/safety issues at Allegiant Airlines. 

These disturbing reports of serious safety incidents have two components. One is Allegiant’s well-above the “normal” rate for such events compared to all airlines, according to CBS; the second, is the passive policy of the Federal Aviation Administration to treat such events as matters to be corrected in the future, without the imposition of fines or other penalties as inducements to more attention to safety by the airline.

I will add a third element, which is the apparent refusal of the airline’s CEO to be interviewed about the problems identified by CBS. The airline issued the standard assurance that “safety is our number one priority” and effectively declined to address specifically the details of its history of maintenance problems. The FAA repeated the “safety is our most important priority” mantra and talking point without expressing more than intellectual concern with the asserted problems at Allegiant about which CBS was pressing for answers.

In fairness to Allegiant, the CBS report does mention that incident levels have declined as the airline replaces its aged MD-80 fleet with newer aircraft. None of us in a position to judge the accuracy of the claims on either side. Nevertheless, consumers of air travel, and their travel agents, are rightly less concerned about fairness to the airline than about being able to fly without fear or worse. The broader question raised by the Allegiant report, regardless of its particular details, is how much safety-related information is a travel agent expected to know and to communicate?

State a disclaimer
The standard advice given to travel agents by attorneys with expertise in the field has always boiled down to this: travel agents are not airlines and are not responsible for airline maintenance/safety problems; but, agents should always make clear in writing to customers that they do not operate aircraft and act only as agents for identified airline principals that do. This disclosure of the agency normally protects the agent from responsibility for airline safety failures.

The harder issue arises, however, when the agent knows or has reason to know that there is or may be an unusual or specific problem with a carrier on which a customer is requesting a booking. Such knowledge, whether actual or presumed, imposes a difficult burden on the agent. Courts are less likely to absolve an agent when a consumer is standing before the judge saying that the agent “knew” there was a problem with airline A or cruise line B but failed to reveal it, thereby leaving the passenger to her fate.

If you know, share it
Therefore, the second core piece of standard advice has always been that if the travel agent has knowledge, or reason to know, the agent should disclose what she knows to the traveler prior to the traveler’s making a final decision.

Smart business practice then says the agent should present the consumer with the next best alternatives. These may involve higher prices or other “benefit reductions” but, importantly, they give the consumer options.

Then, and this is very important, have the traveler make the decision based on the information the agent provided. Do not let the traveler shift the decision to you with “you’re the expert here, so I’ll do whatever you say.”

Traveler must decide
The singular goal in these situations is to have an informed consumer make the critical choices about where to go, how to get there, and so on. The courts will expect you to provide your customer with as much reliable information as you have.

Unfortunately, in the real world we inhabit, some of the information will occasionally just be “stories” or rumors you have heard or read about. If so, be clear about the sources of what you are communicating, so the client can check for himself after hearing from you. You do not have to parse the ultimate truth among what, say, “60 Minutes,” the FAA and the airline claim. No realistic way to do this exists. You do not have to review FAA maintenance records. The concept is to disclose, not impose. Be a responsible guide and you have done your job.