Australian air travellers could get compensation for cancelled or severely delayed flights
Compensation for passengers left stranded by airlines could be coming to Aussies after a shock move by the federal government.
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Exclusive: Australians could pocket hundreds of dollars in compensation if airlines are punished for delayed and cancelled flights.
News Corp can reveal the Albanese Government may consider better protection for passengers’ rights as part of an overhaul of the aviation sector.
Labor’s white paper is set to look into everything from aircraft noise to lowering emissions – but Australians’ anger over disrupted travel post-Covid means passengers rights could also be included.
A spokeswoman for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said it was “evident that there is much customer dissatisfaction with airlines at the moment”.
“The government has committed to delivering an Aviation White Paper to set the scene for the next generation of growth and development across the aviation sector. This process will include the opportunity for public consultation and regulated protections for air passengers may be something considered,” she said.
“The Government’s Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has noted that most airlines operating in Australia have compensation policies, and that these are a point of competition. The ACCC works to ensure Airlines provide refunds consistent with their refund policies,” the spokeswoman said.
In July, Australian airlines averaged 55 per cent on time arrivals, and 54 per cent for on time departures, with a cancellation rate of 6.4 per cent – all significantly worse than the long term average.
Aviation law expert Joseph Wheeler said Australia lacked a “customer focused approach to compensation”.
“At the moment, Australians are in never-ending uncertainty as to what they can get and how, and many find themselves in loops of complaints with airlines and the ombudsman – which itself in Australia is funded by the airlines, so it feels like there’s an imbalance between what airline customers get and what they have to deal with,” Mr Wheeler said.
That meant airlines are getting away lightly – and cheaply.
“Airlines in some cases are not taking responsibility for the delays and losses that passengers have suffered,” he said.
There are good examples of compensation schemes in the EU model India and Canada, he said.
“We need to look at something that’s right for locals and takes into account the fact that there’s only two or three airlines really that are flying people around domestically in Australia,” Mr Wheeler said.
“We need something very tailored for the Australian environment for a largely domestic market and for our local conditions.”
Mr Wheeler said Australian airlines “wield a lot of power”.
“That’s the nature of market share – customers in Australia are bound by the tyranny of distance and passengers need to use the carriers,” he said.
Passengers will only get a fair deal if “there is a regulatory incentive to get things right”.
“Instead of compensating each individual passenger and giving them a token few dollars, which doesn’t cure the issues [when] they need to get to [their destination] … over time that encourages airlines to be more competitive and to be more forward thinking,” Mr Wheeler said.
Shine Lawyers senior associate Sara Kaurin said Australia lacked protections other countries had.
“They’ve actually set up guidelines where ours is just a very broad guarantee, basically stating that if services have not been supplied within a reasonable time, you’re entitled to certain remedies, which, in reality, if you were to enforce it, it would just be a lengthy and painful process,” she said.
Ms Kaurin said having time limits and directives in place “probably pushes them along and get them to try and rectify the issues quicker”.
“It would be helpful if parts of consumer law were amended or certain provisions were brought in specifically to deal with delays and compensation available to passengers who do experience delays or cancellation,” she said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has seen a spike in complaints about airlines, but refused to state how many.
In its latest annual report, the airlines backed ombudsman, the Airline Customer Advocate, admitted half of clients disagreed it provided “clear and accurate information”, a similar amount said they weren’t treated “fairly, with respect and honestly” – and 48 per cent didn’t believe it was independent.
HOW EU COMPENSATION SCHEME WORKS
The EU compensation scheme requires airlines to pay passengers on the Melbourne to Sydney route the equivalent of $370 if they fail to arrive at their destination within three hours or if the flight was cancelled.
Flights from the east coast to Perth would cost almost $600 - and ones to Bali would be nearly $900 per passenger.
According to the ACCC under Australian Consumer Law, services such as flights come with automatic consumer guarantees that they will be supplied within a reasonable time.
If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement, depending on the circumstances and the terms and conditions of your booking.
If your flight is delayed or cancelled for reasons within the airlines control, consumers are entitled to a refund or replacement. In some circumstances consumers might be also be entitled to additional compensation or assistance - but it is not guaranteed
Originally published as Australian air travellers could get compensation for cancelled or severely delayed flights
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