- The United States will implement new rules to protect airline consumers, including compensation for delays and cancellations.
- The airline industry has cut costs on customer service, raising concerns among passengers about issues such as lost or damaged baggage and unfair practices.
- The Airlines for America association ensures that airlines do everything possible to ensure that planes depart and arrive on time and that safety is their highest priority.
The United States seeks to add consumer protections against airline actions.
This is why the president of that country, Joe Biden, will announce this Monday, May 8, that the Department of Transportation will issue new rules what they will oblige airlines to compensate travelers when delays or cancellations occur and they are responsible.
The new regulations are the latest in a series of determinations with which the White House seeks to add protections in favor of passengers in a market segment in which consumers are more vulnerable.
“When an airline cancels or delays a flight, the passengers will be the ones who will have to pay for the problems that result from that,” says a statement from the US Department of Transportation signed by its owner, Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg said that from now on, airlines will have to cover all expenses, from meals to hotels, if the companies are responsible for stranding passengers.
Most of the airlines made a voluntary commitment in mid-2022 to pay for hotels and meals, but did not agree to offer monetary compensation for delays.
The Biden government’s decision is a reaction to last year’s Christmas crash, which led to more than 16,000 flight cancellations and left hundreds of thousands stranded at airports.
Airlines under scrutiny for consumer treatment
The airline market has undergone major changes in recent years, with increased competition, customer satisfaction should be a focus, but it has not.
It is that with rising costs, airlines have cut costs and one of the first was the area of customer service. Especially in the so-called “low cost”.
A particularly contentious issue in the airline industry is compensation for delays and cancellations. Although airlines are required to compensate passengers for certain types of delays and cancellations, many passengers feel they are not adequately compensated for their inconvenience.
Another area of concern for consumers is lost or damaged luggage. To address this problem, some airlines have introduced baggage tracking systems and improved their bag handling procedures, but nothing seems to be quite what consumers need.
Another of the great problems of the industry: unfair practices, such as hidden fees, overbooking and discriminatory treatment.
Airlines response
Regarding the new rules, Airlines for America, a trade association that represents Delta AirLines, United-Airlines and American-Airlines, among the most important, said in a statement that US airlines “have no incentive to delay or cancel flights and do everything they can to ensure planes leave and arrive on time, however safety is always the top priority.”
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