SANTO DOMINGO.- The National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor) intervened on its own initiative this Tuesday at the Las Américas Doctor José Francisco Peña Gómez International Airport (AILA) and the Cibao International Airport in Santiago, in order to verify whether the US airline JetBlue is operating with irregularities to the detriment of consumers "in order to immediately initiate the corresponding sanctioning process."
The executive director of Pro Consumidor, Eddy Alcántara, said that for such purposes the institution's inspection and surveillance team, as well as analysts of good business practices, were sent to these airports to carry out the corresponding investigations and assessments.
“If the harm to consumers is due to negligence on the part of the airline, we will initiate the sanctioning process as established by Law 358-05 on the Protection of Consumer or User Rights,” he added.
The official explained that with the approval of the General Directorate of Migration and the private entities that manage the José Francisco Peña Gómez International Airport and the Cibao International Airport, as well as other government security agencies in the area, “we are carrying out these operations, which we had already announced at the beginning of this week, respecting due process to guarantee that the rights of consumers who are users of these air services are respected.”.
He noted that these operations began this Tuesday and will continue throughout the week and next "until a thorough investigation can be conducted to ensure that the law and other sectoral laws are applied so that no consumer is affected by negligence on the part of the airline, should any exist.".
The head of the entity also reported that yesterday, Monday, he met with the general manager of JetBlue, Rubén Rosario, and the legal representative of that airline, Urania Paulino, with the objective of informing them about the different complaints that the institution has received, in addition to making known the mechanisms to be implemented "to comply with everything that has to do with the process of possible sanctions.".
Eddy Alcántara indicated that the company representatives expressed their willingness to collaborate so that "our inspectors are permanently present both in the registration area, which is the first stage of the process at airports, as well as at the boarding gate to check for delays and ensure that services and attention are in accordance with international civil aviation agreements.".
He went on to say that the behavior of airline staff is also monitored to verify if they are failing to comply with what was agreed with the consumer at the time of payment for the service and what they committed to fulfilling as established by the purely verbal agreement.
He reiterated that if irregularities are found stemming from the mismanagement of commitments made by the airline to consumers, "Pro Consumidor will immediately apply the corresponding sanctions according to the severity of the fraud, in accordance with the provisions of articles 104, 105, 107, 110 and 111 of our regulations.".
It is worth remembering that last year, the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights issued a warning to JetBlue, urging them to comply with the services they offer due to constant complaints of non-compliance from consumers.
