The Association of European Airlines has criticized two new developments in air passenger rights for European citizens, saying both will penalize carriers unfairly. Last week, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to submit a legislative proposal by July 1, 2010, for a scheme to protect passengers against airline failure. The Commission had announced in October that it was looking into the issue. More than 90 scheduled carriers have gone bust in Europe since the start of the decade.
Also last month, the European Court of Justice ruled that passengers on flights that arrive late by three hours or more should receive the same compensation under European Union law as those whose flights are cancelled or are involuntarily denied boarding. Airlines are obliged to pay cancellation compensation of up to €600 on a sliding scale determined by the distance of the flight. Previously, passengers received no compensation for delays, although those delayed by five hours or more were entitled to a refund on their ticket.
"The Court holds that passengers who are affected by a delay sustain similar damage, consisting in a loss of time, and thus are in a comparable situation [to those whose flights are cancelled]," said a statement from the ECJ. "There is no justification for treating passengers whose flight is delayed any differently when they reach their final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival time."
The court also clarified a clause in the relevant 2004 directive on air passenger rights that exempts airlines from paying out for delays caused by "extraordinary circumstances." Following several examples of airlines citing technical problems as extraordinary circumstances, it ruled this could not be used as a justification unless the failure stemmed from abnormal problems beyond the control of the airline.
The focus on air passenger rights has intensified recently on both sides of the Atlantic. Last week, the United States Department of Transportation fined three airlines for their role in leaving passengers stranded overnight on an aircraft
(BTNonline, Nov. 24).
However, AEA has taken issue with both the ECJ ruling on compensation for delays and the proposal to introduce legislation for airline failure protection. Information manager David Henderson told
EuroBTN that carriers would have to pay compensation to many more people for delayed flights than for outright cancellations, which usually result from under-booking, or for being bumped.
"If airlines are going to be obliged to pay passengers who are delayed, they are not going to take this lightly," said Henderson. "They will seek redress from those responsible for the delays and the only winners will be the lawyers."
Henderson added that the legislation originally was aimed at protecting passengers inconvenienced by commercial decisions either to overbook or to cancel flights. Delayed flights do not fall under the same definition, he said.
Regarding airline failure protection, which is expected to take the form of a small levy on tickets, Henderson said, "This issue has been exaggerated. If you saw the list of airlines that have failed, you would only recognize a few names. Some are a victim of the downturn, but others are victims of seriously flawed business plans. Why should successful airlines cross-subsidize them? Our costs are higher than our revenues at the moment, and the last thing we need is an additional cost."