The DOT's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, which handles and reports on air travel problems and complaints, issued 45 fines for violations of aviation consumer rules and assessed $3.2 million in penalties in 2011, more than in any other year in the agency's history. In the previous year, the department issued 27 fines and assessed $1.8 million in penalties.
Remarkably, none of those penalties were based on the new rules, which, among other things, double compensation for "bumped" passengers and require airlines and ticket agents to wrap all mandatory taxes and fees into their quoted fares. In fact, the DOT hasn't punished any airlines for running afoul of the new consumer-protection regulations, according to the department.