Airlines fined more than in Bush era

WASHINGTON — AirTran Airways paid a fine for promoting $39 fares that cost $44. Delta Air Lines was penalized for not disclosing fees, Continental Airlines for underreporting disabled passengers’ complaints. That was in May alone.

President Obama’s Transportation Department has collected nearly twice as much in aviation industry fines as in the final two years of George W. Bush’s presidency, data show.

The fines are weighing on carriers that recently reported their first collective profit in 2 1/2 years, said Kenneth Quinn, a former Federal Aviation Administration official. “The pendulum has swung pretty hard,’’ he said.