Originally Posted by
NedsKid
Sorry to dash your hopes, but it does.
Spirit, Allegiant, and Southwest are suing the DOT over the rule that requires you publish the cost of an airline ticket to include all the taxes and fees that the government collects. Other than gas, prices in the US never include all the taxes and fees, so why should airlines be singled out? While Allegiant and Southwest are laying low, Spirit is engaged in a much more public campaign.
Southwest doesn't want people to see the full cost, because they need to continue to trick the general public into thinking SWA is a low fare airline. That's why you can only purchase tickets at southwest.com. Many times SWA is more expensive then the other carriers.
Originally Posted by
NedsKid
That said, Spirit passing on their low costs to their consumers in the form of low fares is not all lip service. When the FAA was unable to collect their taxes during the 2011 'government shutdown', Spirit returned the extra $ they had collected to their passengers, rather than pocketing it for themselves. I believe the only other airline to do so was Alaska.
Delta also returned the taxes collected during the 2011 FAA shutdown.
Delta to Refund Taxes Paid for Travel During FAA Shutdown - Aug 1, 2011