CHOICE responds to the Federal Government's announcement releasing the draft Aviation Customer Rights Charter for public consultation.
Quotes attributable to Rosie Thomas, Director of Campaigns at CHOICE:
"CHOICE welcomes the release of a proposed Aviation Customer Rights Charter. The announcement is an important step towards giving consumers clear rights when flights don't go to plan."
"For too long, consumers in Australia have had to navigate complex, inconsistent and often unsatisfactory rights outlined in the terms and conditions of each airline. An effective Charter of Rights should ensure clear minimum standards for all consumers, regardless of which airline they fly with."
"CHOICE is pleased to see the Charter acknowledges that prompt refunds will be the default when a flight is not delivered. This should put an end to unfair policies forcing people to accept hard-to-use flight credits, as became common practice during the travel disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic."
"We are concerned that the proposed Charter does not comprehensively acknowledge rights to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights. Introducing a European-style compensation scheme is one way to do this, but even without a similar scheme in Australia, consumers deserve clear guidance about their compensation rights under the consumer law's existing consumer guarantees. CHOICE will engage with the consultation process to make sure this is rectified."
"CHOICE also urges the Government to release full details of the proposed Aviation Ombuds Scheme as a priority so that we can assess the Customer Rights Charter with certainty about the complaints body that will administer it. As the flawed Airline Customer Advocate demonstrates, consumer rights are only as good as the complaints processes to enforce them."
Read CHOICE's submission on the Aviation Ombuds Scheme: https://www.choice.com.au/consumer-advocacy/policy/policy-submissions/2024/october/aviation-white-paper
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