Australian airlines push back on calls to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations

Australian airlines are pushing back against calls for new laws that would force them to pay cash compensation to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled, with claims it would force carriers to preemptively raise air fares to fund payouts. The resistance follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, consumer advocate Choice and the Australian Lawyers Alliance all separately raising the prospect of a compensation scheme to rein in airlines arbitrarily changing their schedules, as the government considers its aviation white paper. Advocates of such a scheme claim Australian laws are “lagging behind the rest of the world”, and point to the EU’s air passenger compensation scheme as a solution. The EU scheme includes set amounts of between E250 and E600 in compensation per passenger when a flight’s arrival is delayed more than three hours, with the amount dependent on the distance of the trip. For longer delays and cancellations, passengers can opt to be refunded, which must be repaid within seven days. The scheme only covers delays caused by the airline, and does not apply to causes outside their control such as weather. However, Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Bonza and Rex Airlines have not supported calls for such a scheme in Australia.<br/>