James Oberstar: “I do so today to express my utter astonishment over a multimillion dollar advertising campaign by the major airlines…”

“I do so today to express my utter astonishment over a multimillion dollar advertising campaign by the major airlines, designed to discredit a proposal by the Department of Transportation to stop unfair competitive practices against new low-fare airlines. The ads seek to arouse public opinion by totally mischaracterizing the Department's proposal. Unfortunately, consumer organizations and new entrant carriers do not have the resources to respond by purchasing a comparable amount of advertising. Typical of the airline campaign is the Brian Olson ad which shows a picture of a disappointed young man under the headline ``Vacation Canceled--Due to Government Regulation.'' The text of the ad says: Brian Olson was looking forward to the family vacation. With so many cheap air fares available, his family was planning the trip of a lifetime, but proposed Department of Transportation regulations could keep Brian home. That's bad news for Mrs. Olson. The DOT has proposed new regulations that will eliminate many discounted air fares and raise air fares for leisure travel in a misguided effort to re-regulate the airline industry. Quite frankly, if the issues were not so important, the ad is so ridiculous as to be laughable.”