Aussies to miss out on compensation for flight delays, cancellations

The federal government released its draft Aviation Customer Rights Charter over the weekend, which it says aims to give customers a better deal from airlines.

But critics say the draft lets travellers down by failing to address compensation for delays and cancellations.

In the European Union, customers are entitled to between €250 and €600 (about $420 to $1000) if their flight is cancelled or delayed by more than three hours.

Travellers in Canada are given between $CAD125 and $CAD1000 (about $140 to $1120) depending on the size of the airline and length of delay.

While the federal government’s new draft says “customers have the right to prompt and fair remedies and support during and after cancellations, delays and disruptions”, compensation isn’t mentioned.

“We are concerned that the proposed Charter does not comprehensively acknowledge rights to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights,” Rosie Thomas from consumer advocacy group Choice said.

“Introducing a European-style compensation scheme is one way to do this, but even without a similar scheme in Australia, consumers deserve clear guidance about their compensation rights under the consumer law’s existing consumer guarantees.”

Independent MP Monique Ryan also criticised the draft charter, saying it let airlines “off the hook”.

“Cash compensation for delayed or cancelled flights (is) a strong incentive for airlines to provide better service,” she said.

“The government has squibbed on these in its draft passenger charter.”

Choice did, however, welcome the provisions in the charter that would force airlines to provide refunds for cancellations promptly – within 14 days – and in the same format that payment was first made by customers.

“This should put an end to unfair policies forcing people to accept hard-to-use flight credits, as became common practice during the travel disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Thomas said.