Consumer NZ takes aim at aviation sector ‘power imbalance’

Consumer New Zealand has launched an online portal to educate travellers on their rights, and provide a platform to share experiences.

The portal aimed to address what Consumer said was a lack of transparency in the aviation sector, as it said 90% of New Zealanders were unaware of air flight rights – and 75% of people relied purely on the airline for information about cancellations or delays, missing luggage or other airline problems.

Consumer NZ’s campaigns manager Jess Walker told Breakfast that unlike many other countries, including those in the EU, New Zealand had no rules requiring airlines to tell passengers about their rights if things go wrong. 

“Many passengers don’t know that they have legal protections under the Civil Aviation Act and the Consumer Guarantees Act,” Walker said.

She said there were some people “who are clued up on their rights, and know exactly what they’re entitled to, how to make a case, and most times how to get that money or reimbursement back”.

“But most people, they don’t know that… because it is incredibly complicated.”

When delays or cancellations are within an airline’s control, a passenger has specific rights. For example, if a domestic flight is delayed due to operational issues, the passenger can ask the airline to reimburse any reasonable costs they incur beause of the cost of the delay, up to 10 times the cost of the ticket.

If an international flight is cancelled or delayed and the airline was at fault, passengers are often entitled to a refund and to claim back other costs too. International flight rights depend on where you are, where you are heading, and, sometimes, where the airline was based. More than one set of rules might apply to the same journey.

“The law is so complex, so unclear and so poorly communicated that most people don’t realise they have rights – let alone how to enforce them. And if people don’t know their rights, those rights might as well not exist,” she said.

Walker said this “one of the areas where there’s a massive power imbalance”.

“There’s a real lack of transparency in the aviation sector, and so what we’re trying to do is jump in and give people advice when they’re going to need it most.”

Consumer NZ said earlier this year it delivered a flight rights petition to parliament, signed by more than 10,500 people, calling on the government to require airlines to tell passengers their rights when flights are delayed or cancelled.

“Last week, we were invited to speak to the parliamentary petitions committee about our flight rights petition,” Walker said.

“We urged the committee to make regulations requiring airlines to clearly inform passengers of their rights at the point of disruption – just like in Europe.

“While the politicians consider our request, we, a not-for-profit, are filling the information gap to try and protect passengers from being left out of pocket when their flights don’t go to plan.”