New Regulation from 2014.

romanby1

http://www.pswlaw.co.uk/site/library/aviationtraveltourism/new_changes_to_airline_passenger_rights.html

The link above is a brief description of a new Delayed Passenger Regulations that are due to come in next year.
Has anyone any further information.
Looks like the delay compensation is going to be less favorable to the passenger.

Aedus

Not really less favorable.

The main two parts are the delay time increasing, and the technical faults.

Yes, people won't be able to claim until their flight is delayed by 5 hours, however it cannot be argued that any technical fault is extraordinary circumstances, and considering most delays are technical faults, it should be easier to claim.

The benefit these changes have for the passenger, is that Airlines will know if they don't get that aircraft off before those 5 hours are up, they cannot defend the compensation claim from any passengers, which could end up costing them a lot of money. They will be more inclined to therefore fix the fault before this 5 hour period is up, or draft in other Air carriers to operate the flight for them to avoid a delay over 5 hours, which should hopefully reduce the time by which passengers are delayed overall. The 3 hour time frame is sometimes not enough, 5 hours should be sufficient for any Airline to make arrangements to reduce a passengers delay. Currently if a flight is delayed over 3 hours, it makes no difference to Airlines whether you're delayed 3 hours or 10 hours or 24 hours, the cost of compensation is the same. With this they will be more inclined to get every Aircraft off before the 5 hours is up, opposed to some having extremely long 10 hour+ delays.

Centipede100

romanby1 wrote: »

http://www.pswlaw.co.uk/site/library/aviationtraveltourism/new_changes_to_airline_passenger_rights.html

The link above is a brief description of a new Delayed Passenger Regulations that are due to come in next year.
Has anyone any further information.
Looks like the delay compensation is going to be less favorable to the passenger.

Been discussed elsewhere on this forum in some detail since the proposals were published on 13th March.

But they remain proposals only at this stage and could well be amended during the passage through the EU Parliament over the coming 12-18 months before anything becomes law.

romanby1

Centipede100 wrote: »

Been discussed elsewhere on this forum in some detail since the proposals were published on 13th March.

But they remain proposals only at this stage and could well be amended during the passage through the EU Parliament over the coming 12-18 months before anything becomes law.

The link I gave apears to be saying the new regulation is fact.
I was also until reading that link it was just a proposal.
Do you have any other links or info.

Centipede100

romanby1 wrote: »

The link I gave apears to be saying the new regulation is fact.
I was also until reading that link it was just a proposal.
Do you have any other links or info.

"The European Commission has published proposals for changing the EU Regulation..."

Whilst there will be amendments to the current Reg, for those amendments to take effect they need to be discussed, amended as required by the MEPs and passed by the EU Parliament.

romanby1

Below has been copied and pasted from the centre of the page.

These new rules were published in mid-March 2013, and the airline industry is currently still reviewing and reflecting upon how this will impact upon their operations.

Below is copied from the Which page
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/i-had-a-flight-delay-can-i-get-compensation/
Changes to compensation

From June 2014, the levels of financial compensation you can get will change.
Financial compensation will be triggered after a minimum five-hour delay (currently stands at three) on flights within the EU or international flight shorter than 3,500 kms.
For longer international flights, compensation will be due after a delay of nine hours for flights up to 6,000km and after 12 hours for longer journeys.
Airlines will also be required to inform passengers about delays and provide an explanation no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.


Can anyone throw any more light on this?

111KAB

romanby1 wrote: »

Below has been copied and pasted from the centre of the page.

These new rules were published in mid-March 2013, and the airline industry is currently still reviewing and reflecting upon how this will impact upon their operations.

Below is copied from the Which page
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/i-had-a-flight-delay-can-i-get-compensation/
Changes to compensation

From June 2014, the levels of financial compensation you can get will change.
Financial compensation will be triggered after a minimum five-hour delay (currently stands at three) on flights within the EU or international flight shorter than 3,500 kms.
For longer international flights, compensation will be due after a delay of nine hours for flights up to 6,000km and after 12 hours for longer journeys.
Airlines will also be required to inform passengers about delays and provide an explanation no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.


Can anyone throw any more light on this?

Yes these proposals were put forward by Sim Kallas in an EU briefing some time ago. They have not yet been ratified and indeed Phil Benion UK MEP Minister of Transport is seeking comment from airlines/public. I personally doubt the EU will ratify until 2015.

romanby1

That was our understanding until we read the original rather vague comment in the link

111KAB

Here you go - I have a stack more info if anyone wants - EU Vice-President Siim Kallas press statement on passenger rights revision

Reference: MEMO/13/217 Event Date: 13/03/2013

Vice-President Siim Kallas press statement on passenger rights revision
Good morning everyone.

I hate being stranded at the airport. And I am sure most, if not all of you, hate it too.

It's bad enough if you are travelling on business. But if it’s the holiday time and you've... got a young family with you, it quickly turns into a nightmare.

That's why it's so important that passenger rights don't just exist on paper. We all need to be able to rely on them when it matters, at the airport, when things go wrong.

The main objective of this Regulation is to get you home, or to where you want to go, as soon as possible.

The package of measures we are announcing today draws on 8 years of experience with air passenger rights:

So what does it all mean in practice?

First of all, if you are delayed you will have a right to information about what is going on after half an hour.

Secondly, everyone has the right to care - something to eat and drink - after two hours instead of four. If you are actually stuck on the plane (a tarmac delay), these rights to care still apply. And they have to take you back to the terminal after 5 hours.

We are strengthening the right to re-routing. If your carrier is not able to re-route you themselves within 12 hours, they must find another airline or put you on the train. And by the way, if you have not used the first half of a return ticket, our proposals give you a new right to use the return leg without penalty.

All this eases some of the pain, but we know that the real priority for stranded passengers is just to get home.

If the airline is going to find you another plane, we need to give them the time do that. Otherwise you run the risk that the airline will cancel the flight altogether and you won't be going anywhere until tomorrow at the earliest. For that reason, we are giving them more time - for example on flights within the EU, moving from 5 hours instead of 3 - to sort the problem out.

Remember, compensation is always only a second best option for passengers – the best option is to get you to your desired destination as soon as possible.

If you are outside the EU these rules only apply if you are on a European carrier. So my message is "Fly European". Our aviation industry has a high and deserved reputation for its quality standards. Other airlines follow our lead. We want to preserve that quality while at the same time ensuring that passengers really can get the fair treatment they deserve when things go wrong.

In my mandate, we have seen the full application of new rights for passengers traveling by rail, sea and road. Europe is now the first and only region of the world where passengers enjoy comprehensive rights across all types of travel. This revision for air passengers completes the circle.

Thank you. Now I am very happy to take any questions you might have.