Strasbourg, 13/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The rights of air passengers are to be reviewed and amended. On Wednesday 13 March, the European Commission proposed a revision of the current legislation. It aims to learn lessons from the most recent air crises, such as the one which resulted from the volcanic eruption in Iceland, and from the numerous rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU, which had to improve definition in European legislation. Although there have been clear efforts at clarification and reinforcement of rights, airline passengers do not come out winners on all fronts.
Coming to a successful conclusion. The European commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas, stated that the most important thing is that passengers' rights “do not just exist on paper”. “The real priority for stranded passengers is just to get home. So our focus is on information, care and effective rerouting”, he added. That passengers of European airlines will to be able to enjoy transparent and concrete rights should also serve as an incentive. “Choose a European carrier!”, the transport commissioner said when presenting the legislative proposal.
New rights. The revision of Regulation 261/2004 includes a raft of new rights for passengers. Equality of treatment for passengers whose flights have been rerouted, delayed or cancelled is now assured. Carriers may no longer refuse passengers using just the return leg of their airline ticket. Passengers will also be able to have typing errors in their names amended free of charge up to 48 hours before departure. And carriers must pay compensation for damaged baggage and will no longer be able to refuse to carry musical instruments in the cabin, except for reasons of safety.
Extension of uncompensated delays. The Commission also wishes to clarify grey areas in the current legislation, and this is where passengers lose out. Passengers will be only able to claim compensation for delays in excess of five hours for internal European flights, compared to 3 hours previously (9 hours and 12 hours for long-haul flights, depending on the distance to be covered). Commissioner Kallas explains this step backwards by stating that “compensation is the last resort”. “What is preferable is getting to your destination. We are giving the airlines more time”, he stated. This provision, which aims to dissuade airlines from cancelling flights, a cheaper option, gives them an extra two hours to find solutions. Among the options to be provided for stranded passengers, the priority is therefore to get them to where they need to be, by redirecting them on another flight operated by the same airline. But after 12 hours, airlines will have to find another way of getting passengers to their destination, possibly also by using a rival airline.
Connecting flights. For connecting flights, the same compensation rules apply in the event of a delay as with direct flights. In the case of an agreement between two airlines, known as an inter-line service, the Commission will hold the arrival airline responsible, even if the delay was caused on the first leg of the trip. However, the airlines are free to divide up the compensation to be paid between themselves. The Commission will additionally place a ceiling on the compensation to be paid (e.g. up to 3 nights for accommodation). Regional airlines are exempted from the accommodation obligation, in order to preserve their economic viability.
Bankruptcies and extraordinary circumstances. In the event of bankruptcy, airlines will be subject to the same obligations to pay compensation. But, as compensation is often inapplicable in practice, the Commission calls for coordination among the national authorities. The Commission also clarifies the concept of extraordinary circumstances, which exempt airlines from having to pay financial compensation. Circumstances will be considered as extraordinary if they are not inherent to the normal exercise of the airline's activities, such as natural disasters or strikes. Consequently, delays caused by technical problems identified during maintenance operations are not included.
Transparency. Lastly, the new provisions reaffirm the need to keep passengers informed in the event of delays or cancellations, in the case of any disruption exceeding 30 minutes. As far as possible, airlines must keep passengers informed of the estimated time between the initially scheduled time and the actual take-off. It is worth noting that tariff transparency and the standardisation of authorised cabin baggage are not covered by the legislative revision. The document does, however, refer to them. The European Parliament may opt to introduce amendments on this subject and has already expressed a desire to do so. (MD/transl.fl)