Airlines protest against new compensation rules for passengers

International airlines say they are disappointed with the European Union’s changes to passengers’ rights, even though they will no longer have to compensate passengers for delays of less than five hours.

They say that many of the proposed changes to EC Regulation 261 will be difficult for governments to enforce, add unnecessary costs and incentivise behaviour by airlines that will be ultimately detrimental to passengers.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the new longer ‘trigger’ times for when a long delay becomes subject to financial compensation, but it said the legislation deviated from international standards and would be difficult to enforce.

In particular, it is concerned that where passengers book connecting flights,the complete burden for compensation for delays rests on the operator of the first flight.

"The Montreal Convention already sets out specific rules on the allocation of liability between carriers in such cases and in certain circumstances what the Commission proposes would actually amount to a breach of the Convention," it said.

As a consequence of the proposal, which is subject to ratification by member states and the European Parliament, European airlines may decide to offer fewer connecting flights to long-haul destinations, it said.

"Even if, on a given first flight, only a handful of passengers miss connections, the potential liability could be greater than the entire revenue from that flight," said IATA director-general Tony Tyler.

"The commercial risk of that unfair provision could result in airlines making the difficult commercial decision to focus on point-to-point operations instead of providing global connectivity to passengers through convenient hub transfers. People living in Europe will be poorer for this misguided requirement."

The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK agreed the legislation could lead to airlines withdrawing from interline agreements. "You can imagine the consequence to a short-haul carrier with a small delay causing a mis-connection to a long-haul flight and footing the entire bill," said chief executive Dale Keller. "This could cost them their entire flight revenue in compensation liability."

Airlines are also alarmed that under the new measures diversions will be treated as cancellations and passengers will be entitled to compensation. "Nearly all diversions are made for safety reasons (mechanical issues or sick passengers being among the most common)," added Tyler.

"While the proposals provide for exceptions,  the reality is that airlines always place the safety of their passengers and crew at the top of the priority list.

"Airlines will continue to make prudent decisions to divert when necessary. It is perverse for regulators to second guess and potentially impose penalties for a captain’s decision made in the interest of the health and safety of passengers and crew."

A new measure to force airlines to find seats for passengers on competing airlines after they have been delayed 12 hours or more has also provoked protest from IATA.

 "Airlines will do all that they can to get a passenger to their destination. But the ticket price paid and the cost of re-routing should be related," said Tyler. "If your Bic pen doesn’t work, you don’t expect to get a Mont Blanc as compensation."