Rights of airline passengers
Do you know that if your flight is delayed for more than five hours, you are en tled to free meals, telephone calls, internet access, transporta on and even hotel accommoda on, if necessary?
KOTA KINABALU: Do you know that if your flight is delayed for more than five hours, you are entitled for free meals, telephone calls, internet access, transportation and even hotel accommodation, if necessary?
In the event your flight is delayed for even two hours, you would already be eligible to claim for free meals, telephone calls as well as internet access.
These are just some of the rights that are regulated by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) for the protection of airline passengers' rights that many Malaysians might not be aware or heard of.
Mavcom is an independent body that was set up on March 1, 2016 under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015, to regulate economic and commercial matters relating to civil aviation. Its goal is to promote a commercially viable, consumer-oriented industry, which supports the nation's economic growth.
“Between March 2016 to January 2018, Mavcom had received a total of 2,958 complaints,” its consumer affairs director, Pushpalatha Subramaniam, said when met by reporters on Tuesday.
“The top three complaints received by Mavcom during the period were related to refunds, mishandled baggage and flight delays, which collectively contributed to 2,012 of the total complaints received.
Approximately 51 percent of the decisions supported the consumers and 99.2 percent of the complaints have been resolved.
Recently, Mavcom released the third issue of its consumer report, which captured data on complaints received from consumers throughout the six-month period from July to December 2017.
With its emphasis on driving a consumer-oriented and robust aviation industry in Malaysia, the report provided an in-depth look into common complaints on airlines and airports in the operating sector.
As testament to its continuous dedication towards protecting consumers' rights, Mavcom has successfully resolved and closed 99.7 percent out of a total of 735 complaint cases lodged with the commission throughout the sixmonth period.
This marked an improvement in Mavcom's performance even as the number of complaints lodged saw an increase of 23 percent, compared to the same period in the previous year.
Pushpalatha further explained that as what was prescribed in the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC), a financial penalty of up to RM200,000 can be imposed for non-compliance to the code.
She also highlighted some of the proposed key amendments that are expected to be made to the Malaysian Aviation Commission Protection Code 2016 (MACPC), namely, the Passenger Service Charge refund processing fees, administrative fees, fees for provision of special assistance and payment card processing fees, among others.
The amendments are slated for implementation in the third quarter of 2018, she added.
Some of the existing provisions are in regard to full disclosure of air fare, prohibition of postpurchase price increase, opt-in requirement, disclosure of terms and conditions and many more.
For more information, the public may visit www.mavcom.my. They may also lodge their respective complaints on the website.