Better protection for passengers gets off the ground

Airline passengers who face a cancelled or delayed flight could soon get greater protections, but travellers aren’t likely to receive compensation for their plane woes.

The federal government has launched public consultation for an aviation consumer protection scheme, which would nationalise standards for what passengers are entitled to if their flight doesn’t leave as scheduled.

Under the scheme, a minimum level of assistance would be set in place for what airlines would be required to give affected passengers.

Among the levels of compensation being considered are refunds, access to food or accommodation or a quick re-booking to a similar flight.

But Transport Minister Catherine King said a European-style scheme where financial compensation would be offered to affected passengers would be unlikely.

“In Europe, there is a compensation scheme that is, of course, defrayed across millions of passengers and hundreds of airlines. We’ve got a much smaller market,” she told ABC TV on Monday.

“We’ve got the balance right here, making sure people get immediate remedies to rectify the situation that they’re in, rather than the European scheme.”

Minimum standards as part of the protection scheme would also include information shared with passengers when a flight is booked or when people check in, as well as how airports should manage complaints.

The consumer scheme is also set to include standards for airlines in the event baggage is lost and what is offered to passengers.

The transport minister said the upcoming standards would be accompanied by an ombudsman scheme and a regulator.

The ombudsman scheme would help customers that are unable to resolve complaints directly with an airline.

Ms King said the changes would ensure airlines would raise their game when passengers were affected by travel delays.

“This is about is lifting the standards overall to make sure passengers get a much better experience when they’re travelling,” she said.

“We’ve certainly seen post-COVID it’s taken a while for airlines and airports to really get back up to speed, and the customer experience, as we know, hasn’t been as good as it could be.”

Consultations on the scheme are expected to run for the next month.