TRANSCRIPT
A public heariig on the Airline Passenger Protections ‘Pay on Delay’ bill: Airlines, Virgin Australia and Qantas were the day's first witnesses…
Bridget McKenzie, the Shadow Minister for Transport had Qantas in the line of fire from the outset.
“You’ve failed to turn up in person, your submission to the inquiry has only just been put online it wasn’t submitted on time.”
Last year, Qantas admitted it breached Australian Consumer Law, misleading customers by continuing to sell tickets for flights which it had already decided to cancel...
Senator McKenzie again.
“If Qantas was willing to knowingly sell those ghost tickets, why should passengers trust that the voluntary consumer protections that you offer in your own policies are enough?”
Qantas's Domestic CEO Markus Svensson told the hearing no airline wants to cancel flights.
“When you look at, you know, how do you run an efficient airline, you don’t want to have, you want to be on time, you don’t want to have any cancellations.”
Senator McKenzie says the Airline Passenger Protections bill provides another layer of protections - and is calling for passengers to be compensated when their flights are delayed or cancelled...
She asked Mr Svensson and Virgin Australia's Government and Industry Affairs General Manager, Stephen Beckett, about current mandatory compensation.
McKENZIE: “There is no penalty scheme in place for the Australian consumer. Is that correct, Mr Beckett?”
BECKETT: “There is no mandatory compensation scheme, that is correct.”
MCKENZIE: “Mr Svensson?”
SVENSSON: “No, there is no mandatory compensation scheme, no.”
Monday’s public hearing also heard from consumer advocates, including Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion.
“I’ve been dealing with people who have been owed upwards of $25-thousand and they’ve been given it in credits because quite simply, the government hasn’t put any legislation in place to protect Australians in this area.”
The Federal Government’s Aviation White Paper was published last year announcing an Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme due to start operating next year.
The CEO of consumer advocate organisation Choice, Ashley De Silva, told the hearing an ombuds scheme is critical.
“What we have in place now in terms of the airline consumer advocate, which is not got best practice governance, so it’s stacked with airline representatives, what we would be seeking is that the ombuds scheme has got an equal representation of industry and consumers and that it does have, it’s got the capacity to make binding decisions.”
Choice says the government’s draft Aviation Customer Rights Charter is a step in the right direction but raises concerns over clarity and comprehensiveness.
Representatives from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport told the hearing the views of stakeholders are still being sought to inform the charter.
And the Department is unable to provide detail on enforcement and penalties - at this stage.
A report on the Airline Passenger Protections Bill inquiry is due next week.
