The U.S. Department of Transportation fined AirTrade International $50,000 for improperly displaying code-share flights on its Vayama online travel agency website.
During the second half of 2010, the DOT found, Vayama neglected to to properly disclose on its flight-itinerary pages that certain flights were code-shares operated by a regional carrier on behalf of a major carrier, the DOT found.
The DOT ordered AirTrade to cease and desist from such "unfair and deceptive practices" and levied the $50,000 fine.
Airtrade is required to pay $25,000 of the civil penalty within 30 days of the April 26 consent order. If it doesn't violate the settlement's provisions over the next year, then Airtrade will not have to pay the remaining $25,000.
Airtrade told the DOT the reason it failed to properly disclose the codes-shares was "in part due to a failure by its Global Distribution System provider to properly identify" these flights.
Vayama is believed to use Amadeus and Worldspan for GDS services.
Airtrade said it made sure Vayama was in compliance with code-share disclosure rules once the company was notified of the problem.