Airlines to compensate for delays / cancelled flights
Air travel in the post-pandemic era has been a painful minefield for many Australians.
Passengers have been stung by sky-high airfares, stood in massive lines at airports, and suffered mind-bending wait times while phoning up airline call centres.
But perhaps nothing is more inconvenient than the dreaded last-minute cancellation, or a flight delay trumpeted through an airport’s tannoy system with no explanation.
Sudden cancellations, which can often unhelpfully arrive via text message or email, sometimes within hours of a scheduled flight, are infuriating and expensive.
Now, the government is being urged to mandate better compensation for passengers if carriers suddenly cancel flights or incur delays that could have been avoided.
“The lack of compensation for flight delays and cancellations in Australia puts us behind much of the world when it comes to protecting traveller’s rights,” Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesperson Victoria Roy said.
Airlines to compensate for delays / cancelled flights and needing this Australian passengers were being made to “to jump through legal loopholes” to receive flight delay compensation “in the rare instances where it is available”, she said.
“It is time for Australia to have its own simple and straightforward compensation regime.”
The ALA, along with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and consumer advocate Choice, want the federal government to force airlines into a clearer and fairer passenger compensation scheme.
The current system, the group has claimed, is too heavily slanted in the airlines’ favour and needs to be more specific so travellers can easily understand their rights.
The government is now considering its options in an aviation white paper that could mandate commercial carriers into a stricter process.
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