Murphy Calls For Investigation Of Possible Price Gouging In Wake Of Fatal Amtrak Derailment

Press Release

Today, in response to a report by the New York Times that airlines had dramatically increased airfares following disrupted rail service after last week's fatal derailment of an Amtrak train, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the alarming price spikes and ensure that they were not attempts by airlines to make money off of desperate travelers who were impacted by the tragedy. In a letter to Assistant Attorney General William J. Baer of the U.S. Department of Justice and Chairwoman Edith Ramirez of the Federal Trade Commission, Murphy asked Baer and Ramirez to fully exercise the enforcement powers vested in their agencies if the investigation reveals that these price increases, which Murphy initially expressed concern over last week, were in fact efforts by the airlines to unfairly profit off the thousands of travelers whose travel plans were altered as a result of the derailment.

"I respectfully ask that you investigate these price spikes to ensure that they were aberrations and not evidence of attempts by airlines to manipulate the prices to unfairly target desperate travelers impacted by this tragedy. Some companies self-corrected after I expressed concern last Friday, and made every effort to accommodate passengers affected by the service outage along Amtrak's lines in the northeast. But if this drastic and sudden increase in ticket prices is an effort to make money from travelers whose travel plans were altered as a result of the derailment, you should fully exercise the enforcement powers vested in your agencies. Like you, I share a profound interest in protecting consumers, and trust that you will thoroughly and promptly investigate this matter."

Source