Airlines must compensate passengers for delays: DGCA

Airline passengers hassled by delays and cancellations have reason to rejoice.

In a draft issued today, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked airline operators to provide financial compensation to passengers for flights having a block time of two hours or more.

The compensation could be between Rs 2000-4000 or the value of the ticket, whichever is lesser, and should be paid within a stipulated time frame.

The regulatory body has invited public opinion on the draft Civil Aviation Rule (CAR) about facilities to be provided by airlines if a passenger is denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays.

The facilities are to be provided by both, scheduled as well as non scheduled airlines, and the onus of providing facilities will lie upon the airline which operates the flight.

Analysts expect the industry to be unhappy with the possibility of an additional financial burden. “The airline industry is already suffering from losses. It is best practice to provide some sort of compensation, however, the range mentioned in the draft is going to burn a hole in the pocket of airline operators. I don’t expect the draft to become a rule, as it will face opposition from the industry,” said an analyst.

However, the draft says that the compensation will not be extended to passengers in cases of cancellations or delays caused due to political instability, natural disasters, civil wars, insurrection or riot, flood, explosions, government regulation, strikes or labour disputes and delays attributed to Air Traffic Control (ATC), among others.

Although the aviation industry has been experiencing high on-time performance (OTP) of 81. 4 per cent for May and a 21.95 per cent growth in passenger revevnues on a year-on-year basis, cancellation rates of flights and passenger complaints remain high.

According to latest figures available with the DGCA, the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines of May has been 1.9 per cent, but Paramount Airways, National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) and JetLite have high cancellation rates of 7.5, 4.4 and 4 per cent, respectively. NACIL operates under the Air India brand.

The data available puts the reasons for cancellation: ‘miscellaneous’ at 58. 5 per cent, technical at 19.6, weather at 12.7 and delays for commercial and operational reasons at 6.1 and 3.2 per cent.

In case of complaints, an average of 3.3 complaints were recieved per 10,000 passengers. Jet Airways, SpiceJet and JetLite registered higher complaint rates of 7.9, 3.7 and 3.6 per 10,000 passengers, respectively.

“As almost 59 per cent of the cancellations come under the ‘miscellaneous’ tag, its important for DGCA to define these as well so that it is clear if these come under the compensation ambit,” said the analyst.

The draft further proposes airlines to maintain transparency in information provided about flight details, reservation status, fare category and travel conditions. The airline or a designated travel agent are also required to provide printouts regarding the identity of the airline actually providing the service, change in aircraft, stops en-route and transfer between airports during the journey.

Importantly, no financial compensation will be paid to passengers who have not provided adequate contact information at the time of booking or when tickets for firm travel on selected flights were issued.

The draft also suggests that ‘no show’ penalties can be charged in relation to the fare as per rules for passengers who do not turn up despite confirmed bookings before the stipulated time limit. This penalty will be deducted from the fare paid by the passenger.

The airlines will also be required to display their policies in regard to compensation, refunds and facilities on their respective websites as part of their passenger charter of rights.

The complaint can be made directly to the airline or to the statutory bodies set up under applicable laws.