THE EUROPEAN Union's (EU) top court on Tuesday upheld legislation requiring airlines to compensate passengers stranded by delays or cancelled flights departing its 25 member states.
Airlines failed in the European Court of Justice to challenge last February's ruling despite claims by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA said it could cost the industry US$700 million per year and that they were being unfairly penalised for conditions that were sometimes out of their control.
CONFIRMATION OF LEGISLATION
Under the ruling airlines can be forced to pay up to 600 euros in some cases, for passengers denied a seat through overbooking. Individual fines for long delays or cancellations with food and lodging could run into hundreds of euros.
Contacted by The Gleaner yesterday, Air Jamaica Chairman O.K. Melhado was not surprised by the confirmation of legislation which has been in place since last February. Mr. Melhado, however, said the airline had responded well.
"Complaints from passengers have gone down very significantly," he said. "It's really significant that we ran 99 per cent completion of flights in December, which is probably our toughest month due to weather restrictions and the sheer volume of passengers."
AFFECTED FLIGHTS
Mr. Melhado said it was impossible to estimate the cost of the ruling to the airline which will only affect flights made out of, not into, the United Kingdom, which is Air Jamaica's only EU destination.
Air Jamaica general counsel, Nerine Smalls, said the airline had always offered compensation, with the only prior exception being compensation for overbooking.
"For instance, we have always put up passengers in hotels when delayed overnight, transported them there and given them vouchers for food and given them phonecards," she said.
Nonetheless, the IATA complained that it was a 'missed opportunity' to strike down excess regulation in the industry when it could better self-regulate. "It doesn't support the interest of consumers. At the end of the day, they are adding $700 million worth of costs to the industry that will have to be recouped in some way," said IATA spokesman Anthony Concil.
