CAB rules on compensation for bumped-off passengers out soon

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is looking to release by June a new regulation on the mandated compensation that passengers who are denied boarding or who miss their scheduled flights will receive from carriers responsible for the delays.

“Our aim is to finish the updating and approval by the board of the new regulation on that compensation by June,” CAB deputy executive director Porvenir Porciuncula said in an interview last week.

The regulator, he said, is currently conducting consultations with the different airlines to update the existing regulation and raise the compensation for passengers who miss their flights for reasons beyond their control.

Passengers miss their scheduled flights when they are denied boarding by carriers due to space constraints when there are more passengers than the number of seats available in a flight.

Passengers may also miss their scheduled flights because the flight has been cancelled or delayed.

Under CAB’s Economic Regulation 7 which was approved in February 1972, passengers of domestic flights who are denied boarding should be given 100 percent of the value of the first remaining flight coupon plus the amount of P150.

The same regulation states that passengers of international flights who are denied boarding will be paid in the amount equivalent to 100 percent of the value of first remaining flight coupon which should not exceed P1,500 plus an amount not more than P500 to cover accommodation, meals, and other expenses.

Porciuncula said there was a need to update the regulation and raise the compensation as the rates may no longer be sufficient and appropriate since these were set in the 1970s.

“This updating is part of our initiative to ensure that passengers will get fair treatment if there are delays,” he said.

For her part, Ma. Elben Moro, chief of the hearing examiners division at the CAB said in the same event that while local low cost carriers have opposed the plan to raise the compensation, most airlines are still open to talks with the government.

She said no final rates have been set yet and that the CAB would want to come up with a decision that will consider how much airlines are willing to pay and the amount that passengers would need for their convenience.

“The bottom line is the airlines should provide convenience and comfort for the passengers especially if there are delays,” she said.