Airlines urged to disclose fees, seat size

WASHINGTON >> Airlines should clearly disclose the cost of change and cancellation fees, as well as the size of the plane’s seats, before a passenger buys a ticket, a federal panel said Tuesday.

Hotels should also be required to include any mandatory fees in their room rates, the Transportation Department’s Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections recommended.

Some hotels have begun adding mandatory resort and other fees to bills even though customers say they weren’t informed of them when they booked their rooms. The panel’s recommendation on hotels was directed to the Federal Trade Commission, which has been investigating such so-called drip pricing.

Likewise, the four-member panel heard testimony that passengers must search to find the cost of change or cancellation fees that airlines hide in a ticket’s fine print. The fees can run hundreds of dollars, especially on international flights. The Transportation Department should require the fees be spelled out clearly so that passengers are informed before a ticket purchase, the panel said.

ON THE MOVE

Island Movers have hired the following two new employees:

Nathan Okinaka is director of operations. He was previously director of operations for So Ono Food Products.

Randall Kawano is the controller for Island Movers as well as for other affiliated logistic companies under HawkTree International. He has 25 years of banking knowledge and was previously an executive vice president and chief financial officer for Pacific Rim Bank.

Yamamoto Caliboso, a Limited Liability Law Company, has announced that Andrew V. Nelson has joined the company as an associate. Prior to joining the law firm, Nelson served as a judicial extern to the Honorable David A. Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii and the Honorable Richard R. Clifton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as well as worked as an associate in a large law firm in Honolulu.