Delta Air, United fined for passenger rights violations

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest carrier, was fined $375,000 for bumping passengers on oversold planes and United Airlines received a $80,000 penalty for not disclosing some flights were made by a partner airline.

Delta failed to follow U.S. Transportation Department regulations to seek volunteers to give up seats, tell bumped passengers why they were chosen and compensate travelers with as much as $800, the agency said Thursday in a statement.

Regulators reviewed passenger complaint records from Delta and the DOT for January to July 2008 and found a "number of instances" where the Atlanta-based carrier bumped passengers and didn't follow one or more provisions of sales rules.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines was fined because it didn't tell consumers that some flights were operated under a route-sharing agreement. The DOT called Chicago-based United's reservation hotline in January and found that agents failed to disclose the arrangement in "a substantial number" of calls.

Delta and UAL didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.