Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined with 37 other attorneys general in asking Congress to let them enforce consumer protection laws against airlines, citing mounting customer complaints.

Currently, enforcement of consumer protection laws lie with the federal Department of Transportation. In their letter to congressional leaders, the attorneys general said the agency has not been responsive to the “thousands of complaints” that their offices have received in recent years. They asked lawmakers to instead allow their individual offices to enforce state consumer protection laws.

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Weiser said his office received more than 600 complaints against Frontier Airlines in 2020, more than the office received against any other company. In their letter to congressional leaders, the attorneys general say many of the complaints were related to “systematic failures to provide required credits to those who lost travel opportunities during the pandemic.” 

The attorneys general said they were aware that the Transportation Department was working on rules around consumer protection, but they said they were still “deeply concerned and frustrated” with the agency’s handling of complaints. 

“It is time to authorize state attorneys general,” they wrote, “and perhaps a different federal agency, to enforce consumer protections for airline travelers.”

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