Australia declines to follow EU in forcing airlines to pay passengers for delayed and cancelled flights

The Albanese government has bowed to pressure from Qantas and other airlines advocating against laws that would force them to pay cash compensation to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. The omission of a compensation scheme in the government’s draft aviation customer rights charter follows claims from airlines such as Qantas that compensation rules – which exist in the European Union – would force them to preempt costs and increase air fares. The charter was released on Sunday. When the government announced it would introduce an airline passenger charter of rights – to fall under a forthcoming industry ombuds scheme – it left open the door for the interim ombudsperson, Pauline Sullivan, to determine if a compensation scheme should be in the charter she was tasked with drafting. However, such a scheme is not included in the draft charter, which is now open for public consultation until the end of February. The omission means advocacy groups’ longtime hopes for an EU-style compensation scheme for Australian passengers lie in the Coalition’s “pay on delay” bill. There have been mounting calls to introduce a compensation scheme modelled on EU laws. It is understood Australia’s consumer watchdog closely studied the EU scheme in the lead-up to the delivery of a landmark aviation white paper. Proponents of an Australian scheme say forcing airlines to pay cash to passengers delayed as a result of the airline’s operations – but not weather-related issues – could bring airlines with poor on-time performances into line. They argue it could also disincentivise airlines from deliberately scheduling and cancelling flights to retain takeoff and landing slots.<br/>