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The aviation industry has come out in lockstep against proposed “pay on delay” laws, while the Australian Lawyers Alliance has supported them.
In submissions to the Senate committee looking into the bill, airlines Virgin Australia and Rex, as well as industry bodies like IATA, RAAA, the Board of Airline Representatives Australia (BARA), and Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), all recommended against the scheme.
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The Airline Passenger Protections (Pay on Delay) Bill 2024 would, among its other provisions, introduce compensation for passengers hit with delays of longer than three hours, and require the transport minister to implement an airline code of conduct.
“The Australian aviation industry serves as a vital lifeline, connecting our vast country and fostering economic growth and social cohesion,” said the bill’s author, Senator Bridget McKenzie, as she introduced it in February.
“However, in recent years, there has been a concerning rise in the frequency of delays and cancellations, causing considerable inconvenience and frustration for passengers.
“It is imperative that the Australian Government take tangible steps to address these issues and ensure that passengers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve when travelling by air.”
In A4ANZ’s submission to the inquiry, CEO Dr Alison Roberts said that while the organisation – which represents Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, Rex and Air New Zealand – shares the bill’s goal that “passengers receive fair and proper treatment, and reach their intended destination”, this “cannot be achieved by airlines alone”.
“There are other factors, and participants in the aviation ecosystem whose performance can impact whether a journey goes to plan – for example, recent flight disruptions in Perth were caused by problems with the airport’s fuel lines, an issue over which airlines had no control – all of this must be taken into consideration when designing effective policy,” she wrote.
“Before promoting airline compensation schemes as a silver bullet for Australian consumers – as a number of recent statements by Senators appear to be suggesting – A4ANZ asks the Committee to note that, under the frequently-referenced EU261 compensation regime, customer complaints have increased since its introduction, with the scheme placing upward pressure on airfares.
“In Canada, another jurisdiction often held up as an example for Australia to follow, consumer protection regulations introduced in 2019 have resulted in a large – and growing – backlog of unresolved consumer compensation complaints (71,000 as at April 2024).”
By contrast, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said mandatory legislative provisions such as a passenger bill of rights should be implemented for proper protection.
“There are currently no consumer protection laws in Australia which are specific to the aviation industry. There is no single framework outlining passengers’ rights to a refund or compensation if their flight is cancelled or delayed,” wrote Victoria Roy, chair of the ALA’s Travel Law Special Interest Group, in the alliance’s submission.
“While consumers can derive some rights from a few different sources, the process involved in discovering and enforcing those rights is, at its best, complicated for some consumers and, at its worst, completely inaccessible for other consumers.
“The ALA supports reforms to the aviation industry to ensure that individual rights of passengers are protected and balanced against the interests of the private sector aviation industry.”
Submissions are open until 30 August.
