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THE INTERNATIONAL of Air Transport Association (IATA) criticized the White House’s plan to require airlines to compensate for significant flight delays and controlled cancellations. According to the association, the policy could cause airfare prices to rise.
“Airlines work hard to get their passengers to their destinations on time and do their best to minimize the impact of delays,” said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, in a statement.
He explained, airlines already have financial incentives to bring their passengers to their destinations according to plan. Managing delays and cancellations is very expensive for airlines. The additional fees that this regulation would impose would not create a new incentive, but would have to be replaced — which would likely impact ticket prices.
In addition to the price hikes, IATA warned the Joe Biden administration’s proposed rules would create “unrealistic expectations”. This is because cancellations or delays caused by weather will not be covered and other issues such as a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Joe Biden and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have proposed the new rules to ensure passengers are compensated in the event of delays or cancellations due to airline errors as a form of liability. Compensation can be in the form of compensation, such as meal vouchers, overnight accommodation, rebooking and others.
The creation of new rules will also define exactly what constitutes a controllable cancellation or delay. DOT representatives have yet to respond to IATA’s input.
The proposed new rules are the latest attempt by the DOT to crack down on airlines. Last year, the department proposed changing the rules requiring airlines to provide refunds if domestic flights are delayed by more than three hours. [tempo.co.id/photo special]
