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Flight delay compensation - Australia lags behind much of the world - change needed
23rd Nov 2022
The lack of compensation for flight delays and cancellations in Australia puts us behind much of the world when it comes to protecting traveller’s rights, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
“There are large and established flight delay and cancellation compensation schemes in the United States, the EU, UK and Canada,” said Victoria Roy, travel lawyer and spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA). “However, there are many other countries with schemes in place such as New Zealand, India, Brazil, Thailand, Ukraine, Turkey and Malaysia, and yet we have nothing in Australia.
“Rather than Australian passengers having to jump through legal loopholes to get flight delay compensation in the rare instances where it is available, it is time for Australia to have its own simple and straightforward compensation regime.”
Travellers in Australia are currently experiencing some of the worst flight delays and cancellations on record which has highlighted the stark lack of protection currently available for customers.
“There is an urgent need for Australia to step up and develop a compensation regime that is, at least, equal to the protections offered in so many other jurisdictions,” said Ms Roy. “We need similar mandatory compensation that is straight-forward and easy for consumers to understand and access.
“Airlines aim to limit their liability for any inconvenience or costs resulting from delays and cancellations and this type of compensation scheme would help hold airlines to account for delays that are within their control.”
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