White House 'in touch' with airlines as hurricanes Helene, Milton spark price-gouging fears

• The Department of Transportation said it is in contact with airlines about the affordability of their flights in areas hit by Hurricane Helene and those bracing for Hurricane Milton, as concerns about potential price gouging grow.
• It is typical for the alarm around price gouging to grow louder in disasters such as hurricanes, when demand spikes from consumers scrambling for items such as last-minute flights and survival supplies.
• But the concerns also revive the Biden administration's often disputed claims that "price gouging" by corporations is partly to blame for consumers' frustrations with high prices.

The Department of Transportation said Tuesday it is in contact with airlines about the affordability of their flights in areas hit by Hurricane Helene and those bracing for Hurricane Milton, as concerns about price gouging grow.

"DOT officials have been in touch with airlines to get more information about the capacity and affordability of flights in the affected areas," a DOT spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

It is typical for the alarm around price gouging to grow louder in disasters such as hurricanes, when demand spikes from consumers scrambling for items such as last-minute flights and survival supplies.

Price gouging is the practice of retailers artificially inflating prices dramatically when the retailer's costs have not increased. In times of crisis, when urgent demand vastly outpaces supply, consumers can be especially vulnerable to price gouging.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Monday post on social media platform X that his agency was "keeping a close eye on flights in and out of areas affected by Hurricane Milton to make sure airlines are not charging excessively increasing fares."

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