WASHINGTON - The government is investigating five airlines for suspected price gouging. Investigators say they are trying to figure out whether those airlines took advantage of flyers after the Philadelphia Amtrak derailment in May. Delta, American, United, Southwest, and JetBlue are accused of unfairly jacking up plane ticket prices in the northeast while the railroad was shut down.
Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx made the announcement on Friday.
"We are looking at this from a consumer standpoint," Foxx said, "And yes, in fact, there are natural shifts in pricing depending on what demand is. The question really is was this beyond the pale, and we will find that out in the course of this investigation."
Eight people died and about 200 others were hurt in the Amtrak crash. Investigators are still trying to decide why the train was going more than 100 miles an hour when it derailed on a curve where the speed limit was 50.