ACCC demands answers from airlines for surge in cancelled flights
Nearly 3000 extra flights were cancelled in the past year and now the ACCC is demanding answers from airlines.
More and more Australians are having their travel plans thrown into chaos by cancelled or delayed flights, The Daily Telegraph report.
About 10,800 domestic flights, or nearly two per cent of scheduled services, were cancelled in 2017.
The on-time departure performance of airlines in 2017 were also worse than average.
The ACCC is now asking questions about whether flight cancellations are an excuse by airlines to cut unprofitable flights when not enough seats have been sold.
In December the ACCC said in a report that consumers had raised concerns “events within an airlines control have been described as being ‘outside their control’. They speculate that an airline’s decision to cancel a flight due to low passenger numbers has been presented as being cancelled for a different reason. This issue is of significant concern to the ACCC and we will be making specific inquiries of the Airlines to examine it further”.
An ACCC spokesman yesterday told the publication “we are continuing to engage with the airlines to determine options to address our concerns”.
Meanwhile, advocates are demanding a compensation scheme for stranded passengers.
Consumer group Choice made a pitch to the Federal Treasury in its 2018-19 pre-Budget submission, asking for a scheme similar to Europe’s, where passengers whose flight arrives three or more hours after schedule can claim up to €600 ($960) for meals, accommodation and telephone calls.
This would only apply for delays or cancellations within the airline’s control, such as mechanical or staffing issues. Weather events wouldn’t be covered.
Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said “this is really a policy problem that needs fixing”.
It also wants the Airline Customer Advocate replaced with an ombudsman.
“In our experience, the compensation you might get varies from airline to airline and traveller to traveller, which is why we’re calling for an ombudsman and a fixed compensation scheme, to introduce some clarity and consistency to the system,” Mr Godfrey said.
The Customer Advocate is funded by participating airlines — Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, Tiger and Rex. While it acts independently, Mr Godfrey said it “does not have independent power to make decisions that affect the participating airline’s response” to a complaint.