Charter to ease air travel pushed back, airlines not on board

NEWDELHI: The current financial troubles Indian airlines find themselves in, and objections raised by them, have prompted the government to put on hold a so-called passenger charter detailing the rights flyers are entitled to, two civil aviation ministry officials said on condition of anonymity.

A draft of the charter said passengers could cancel tickets free of charge as long as this was done within 24 hours of booking and at least four days ahead of the scheduled departure. It also allowed them to make corrections in the name on the ticket at no extra cost. Airlines objected to both. They were also unhappy at the compensation flyers were entitled to on account of cancellation of flights or other issues and claimed this was set too high.

“The airlines have requested us to look into the high compensation charges as fares in India are very low and such high compensation cannot be justified. The second main objection from them is allowing cancellation, as according to them, their business will get affected if this is

done,” said one of the officials.

Under the new set of rules put forth in the document, passengers will also be entitled to a refund if the flight is delayed for over four hours even if the delay has been communicated a day in advance. Additionally, missing a connecting flight due to a delay caused by the airline could entitle flyers to a refund of anything between ₹5,000 and ₹20,000.

The draft, which was opened for public consultation for a month on May 21, received responses from airlines, passenger associations, airport operators and frequent air travellers. The ministry has held two rounds of meetings with the stakeholders and is yet to take a final decision on the draft.

Part of this may be prompted by the crisis airlines face.