The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced that it would be fining LATAM Airlines Group $1 million. This is due to the Santiago, Chile-based airline and associated affiliates having routinely failed to provide timely refunds to passengers aboard flights throughout the United States.
Outpouring complaints over the past several years
The US Transportation Department has received over 750 complaints since the beginning of March 2020. These complaints have alleged that LATAM Airlines has not provided timely refunds to passengers that have had their flights canceled. This is regarding flights to or from the United States.
The USDOT has stated that it took LATAM Airlines, which is the biggest carrier in Latin America, over 100 days to process thousands of refund requests for canceled flights.
The airline has announced that it will agree to pay the $1 million fine and additionally stated,
During the COVID-19 pandemic, LATAM Airlines was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights per day at its peak. The number of refund requests due to the pandemic quadrupled. This led to the airline issuing more than $62 million in refunds to US-traveling passengers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many canceled flights and forced refunds led to the airline filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This forced LATAM Airlines to downsize the company, which led to thousands of employees being laid off.
LATAM Airlines Brasil recently announced a significant reduction in consumer complaints. The airline has reduced its number of customer complaints by 50% in March 2023 compared to the same time frame last year. On top of this, LATAM Airlines has become the airline with the fastest response time.
While the airline has reduced complaints, LATAM Airlines has also increased its passengers to some of its highest numbers yet. The airline posted more than 20% more passengers in April compared to last year. Along with this, LATAM Airlines posted a large net profit of $122 million in the first quarter of this year. These numbers show the airline is still working towards recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
