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Indeed. DOT fines tend to be small in this area. On the other hand, it is notable that DOT considered and rejected each of AA's defenses. That could be useful as precedent.

Some passengers may also have meritorious claims they'd like to bring against AA on an individual basis.

That's a whole 47 seconds revenue! I'm sure they'll be suitably chastened.

> government-imposed fees,

For contrast, on your car rental or telecom bill, you find these labeled as "fees permitted by law", in an attempt to obfuscate.

Some of them are actually fees imposed by law on the telecom company which they have decided to pass on to you as a line item.