Know your rights

Air travel has never been as popular as now, more so with the affordable rates provided by budget carriers, and we’re having more and more of these low-cost carriers lately in the Philippines. Imagine going to Guangzhou, China for instance, the new Bangkok for budget or bulk shopping for many Filipino travelers, for a little over P9,000/person for a round trip ticket inclusive of hotel accommodations for three days. That was simply unheard of several years back, but because competition has been so stiff in the last three years, the carriers have been outdoing each other in the hope of filling up the aircrafts to capacity to ensure profitability, no matter how slim the margins.

But traveling on a shoestring budget is nowhere near what we air travelers used to experience before, when even during domestic flights, hot meals were served even in regular (read: economy) flights. Now, one has to pay to get a drink of water while on board.

But let’s not knock that. Many travelers would readily sacrifice comfort for significant fare reduction—I would too if the time involved is only two or three hours, and the entire family is sharing the trip. That would certainly translate to more shopping money, or more fancy dinners during the trip.

But it is precisely the proliferation of budget carriers that Transport Secretary Mar Roxas thought of coming up with the Air Passengers Bill of Rights (APBR), a first in this country, which took effect in December 2012 and designed to set the minimum standards for air passengers. The APBR is now under review after just a little over a year, but let’s review this bill of rights as it stands now because whatever changes there may be will just be refinements of certain provisions to enhance the protection of air passengers upon their purchase of their tickets up to their arrival at the airport of their destination.

Our resource person, no less than the chief of the Transportation Regulation Office of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), lawyer Eldric Paul Peredo was very thorough in his dissertation of the APBR, and B&L is grateful to the very accommodating chief.

All air passengers have the right to be provided with accurate information before they purchase air tickets, and all carriers are required to disclose all pertinent terms and conditions in their ads. Furthermore, the Civil Aeronautics Board requires the carriers to allot at least one third of their advertisement space to the disclosure of these terms and conditions, with bigger fonts and including all surcharges. TRO chief Peredo grades the compliance rate of all airlines to this provision as fair, though not 100 percent, as they continue to receive complaints in this area from some quarters.

Included in a passenger’s right to receive the full value of the service purchased is this: he will not be considered late or a no-show and shall not be denied check-in if he or she is within the air carrier’s cordoned or other designated check-in area at least one hour before the published estimate time of departure (ETD), or within the prescribed time set by the air carrier. Passengers also have the right to sufficient processing time — check-in counters in international airports and in other airports designated by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) are required to be open at least two hours before the ETD, and a separate dedicated counter must be opened for a flight nearing check-in deadline. This is to facilitate the check-in of passengers at least one hour before the published ETD. And to serve persons with disabilities (PWD), senior citizens and other persons who require special assistance or handling, the carrier must open at least one check-in counter for them.

As a general rule, a passenger cannot be denied the right to board the aircraft without his consent except in cases of overbooking or for legal or other valid causes, but the airline must look for volunteers willing to give up their seats.

In case the airline does not get enough volunteers to cover the need, they are expected to increase the compensation package they are offering until the required number of volunteers is met. The APBR is silent on what happens when they ultimately fail to get enough volunteers,  but with the right compensation package, there will always be takers. In the industry, this is known as the “auction system.”

And then of course there is the provision on the air passenger’s right to compensation and amenities in case of delays or cancellations of flights. As provisions on delays are more extensive, let us take cancellations first.

According to the APBR, if cancellations are made at least 24 hours before the ETD, and assuming that the cancellation is not due to heavy rains for instance, or bird strikes or other reasons where force majeure can be invoked but reasons attributable to the air carrier like maintenance problems for instance, the passenger may demand for reimbursement or may ask the carrier to rebook his flight. The option is entirely the passenger’s.

For cancellations that are made less than 24 hours before the ETD and for reasons entirely attributable to the airline, the passenger shall be reimbursed the full value of the fare, taxes and surcharges and other optional fees and to be endorsed to another air carrier without being charged the fare difference, if any, or to rebook the ticket without additional charges. If the air carriers cite other reasons for such cancellations like safety and or security concerns, the passenger shall be reimbursed the full value of the fare.  In addition, the passenger is entitled to amenities that may include food and drinks, hotel accommodations and transportation to these accommodations.

Because cancellations are simple enough to define, the bill of rights is specific in addressing the passenger’s right to compensation and amenities. However, the matter of delays in flight schedules is not as simple and needs to be qualified. This will be discussed next week in Part 2 of this short series on the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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