By Amelia McGuire
Unhappy passengers will have to wait until next year to complain about flights to the government’s new ombudsman, setting up an election season fight over reforms to Australia’s aviation industry.
Transport Minister Catherine King said the government will take submissions until October on the drafting of a passenger’s charter of rights, leaving only three weeks to develop and introduce laws before parliament rises for the year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to call an election by April next year.
King said the interim ombudsman would immediately begin drafting the charter of rights and was not concerned the reforms may fall by the wayside if Labor loses the election.
“We’ve heard people are not getting the experience that they are paying for ... these reforms will significantly change that ... I’m sure at the next election that if someone wants to change and withdraw those rights that it will be a matter of contest and debate for all of us,” she said.
The charter of rights is one of 56 reforms proposed in a long-awaited white paper that will govern the aviation sector until 2050.
Sticking it to passengers.Credit: Matt Golding
“It will allow people to directly put in complaints to the ombudsman as well as seek remedies that will be legislated as part of that scheme. What we all want to see is that customers get what they pay for when they’ve bought a ticket,” King said.
The scheme will include penalties for airlines and airports if they do not comply with the charter, but King did not say what form they would take. She confirmed delays or cancellations caused by the government-owned air navigation service, Airservices Australia, will not be overseen by the body despite being responsible for up to 15 per cent of delays in any given month.
Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie said the reforms did not go far enough and accused King of hiding behind consultation to avoid much-needed change.
“I am very frustrated by the minister’s inability to act. There are no assurances that these measures will be in place before the election which means nothing will have changed … under the Albanese government,” she said.
“Aviation is a complicated industry, but I don’t know how much more time this minister needs,” McKenzie said. “Whenever she’s been given an opportunity to implement reform she has not done it.
Catherine King announces the white paper at Parliament House on Monday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Yes it’s complicated, yes it’s hard but that’s why you’re a minister.”
The white paper, the latest of several reviews of the aviation sector commissioned by successive governments, includes a range of other competition reforms, such as changing the way pricing is negotiated between airports and airlines.
Aviation is one of Australia’s most concentrated industries. Budget carriers Bonza and Regional Express both entered voluntary administration earlier this year after each struggled to gain a foothold, while Qantas and its budget airline Jetstar make up more than 65 per cent of the domestic market.
In 2020, former Productivity Commission chair Peter Harris delivered his report on time slot management at Sydney Airport, which recommended an overhaul to make it easier for new airlines to fly in and out.
A slot is an agreement between an airport operator and an airline that allows the latter to take off and land at specific times. Airlines schedule their slots a year ahead of time, and the International Air Transport Association rules state a carrier must use 80 per cent of its allocated rights to a time slot, or face losing it.
Successive governments have sat on the recommendations, to the frustration of some airlines and the country’s airports, who say the domestic market is not competitive enough.
The white paper has committed to implementing the Harris review. This would include a binding direction that airlines be more transparent about flight cancellations and an expansion of what constitutes “slot misuse”, so airlines will be less able to cancel flights without consequences.
The government will also consider limiting the ability of airlines to roll over their slot rights from year to year.
However, Rex’s “use it or lose it” conditions were previously suspended to protect its slots during its administration period, expected to finish in September.
The new scheme replaces the existing airline customer advocate which was funded by the carrier businesses and had no binding powers.
Qantas and Virgin both released statements praising the paper’s focus on customer rights.
Virgin welcomed “the opportunities it presents to improve regulatory and policy settings, ensuring all Australians continue to benefit from a competitive and sustainable aviation industry in the years ahead”.
“We share the government’s focus on putting customers and the development of the aviation workforce front and centre,” Qantas said.
Sydney Airport boss Scott Charlton welcomed the reforms while also calling for changes to the regulation of aircraft noise, which has been unchanged for 27 years.
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