Passenger rights on table in airline probe

AUSTRALIANS could pocket hundreds of dollars in compensation if airlines are punished for delayed and cancelled flights.

News Corp can reveal the Albanese government may consider better protection for passengers’ rights as part of an overhaul of the aviation sector.

Labor’s Aviation White Paper is set to look into everything from aircraft noise to lowering emissions, but Australians’ anger over disrupted travel means passengers rights could also feature.

A spokeswoman for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said it was “evident that there is much customer dissatisfaction with airlines at the moment”.

The spokeswoman said the white paper would “set the scene for the next generation of growth and development across the aviation sector”.

“This process will include the opportunity for public consultation, and regulated protections for air passengers may be considered,” she said.

“The government’s Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has noted that most airlines operating in Australia have compensation policies, and that these are a point of competition.

“The ACCC works to ensure airlines provide refunds consistent with their refund policies.”

In July, Australian airlines averaged 55 per cent on-time arrivals, and 54 per cent for on-time departures, with a cancellation rate of 6.4 per cent – all significantly worse than the long-term average.

Aviation law expert Joseph Wheeler said Australia lacked a “customer-focused approach to compensation”.

“At the moment, Australians are in never-ending uncertainty as to what they can get and how, and many find themselves in loops of complaints with airlines and the ombudsman – which itself in Australia is funded by the airlines, so it feels like there’s an imbalance between what airline customers get and what they have to deal with,” Mr Wheeler said.

That meant airlines were getting away lightly.

“Airlines in some cases are not taking responsibility for the delays and losses that passengers have suffered,” Mr Wheeler said.

There are good examples of compensation schemes in the EU model, India and Canada, he said.

“We need to look at something that’s right for locals and takes into account the fact that there’s only two or three airlines really that are flying people around domestically in Australia,” Mr Wheeler said.

“We need something very tailored for the Australian environment for a largely domestic market and for our local conditions.”

Mr Wheeler said Australian airlines “wield a lot of power” as “customers in Australia are bound by the tyranny of distance and passengers need to use the carriers”.

Passengers would only get a fair deal if “there is a regulatory incentive to get things right”.