Airlines are capping ticket prices after furious customers took to Twitter to complain about skyrocketing costs

pulse

September 6, 2017 11:18 PM

Prices on flights out of Florida are being capped following a backlash from people scrambling to evacuate before Hurricane Irma hits.

Airlines are capping prices on flights out of Florida after people attempting to evacuate before Hurricane Irma hits spoke out against skyrocketing costs.

Fliers were charged up to $3,000 for domestic flights that typically cost just a fraction of that, the Miami Herald reported.

While airlines are not subject to Florida's price-gouging laws, many people saw the inflated prices as unethical and dangerous as people were trying to evacuate the area.

Escape #HurricaneIrma in st... @ John Del Signore

When flight prices are infl... @ Lae Lae

One way ticket: Miami to D... @ @Nightcam

Totally unacceptable, a $35... @ Joseph Pep Nodarse

On Wednesday, many airlines began capping flight prices after the outrage went viral.

American Airlines said in a statement to Business Insider that it planned to cap prices at $99 pre-tax on direct flights out of Florida. The cap applies to tickets sold from now until Sunday, September 10, for flights until Wednesday, September 13. The airline said on Twitter this afternoon that it was "not unusual to see higher prices for the last few seats on a flight," and that it is adding extra flights to the area.

@TheRealLDUB It#emo#s not unusu... @ American Airlines

Jet Blue has discounted the price of non-stop flights out of Florida to $99 including tax. Connecting flights out of Florida are priced at $159.

Delta also capped prices, albeit at a higher price, charging a maximum of $399 on flights out of Florida and the impacted islands, Yahoo Finance reported.

pulse