Sam Levine, Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice and former Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, submitted a comment on Monday (December 1) opposing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposed rule that would add new procedural hurdles to unfair and deceptive practices rulemaking.
Levine argued that the proposal is part of a broader agenda urged by the airline industry to prioritize profits over air travelers and a fair marketplace for air travel. The proposal, he asserted, would slow essential consumer protections, undermine the Department’s authority to root out fraud and deception, and hand the airline industry new avenues to obstruct oversight at a time of widespread public frustration with air travel. Levine filed the comment in his personal capacity.
In his comment, Levine warns that the proposal – while framed as procedural housekeeping – would in practice make it significantly harder for DOT to issue future rules addressing hidden fees, refund abuses, accessibility failures, and surveillance pricing. Levine urged the Department to withdraw the proposal and instead build on recent progress to strengthen consumer protections, enhance competition, and ensure transparency for the traveling public.
The comment was prepared with invaluable assistance from Julian Sanghvi, Berkeley Law ‘26, and David S. Nahmias.