The new Aviation White Paper marks a watershed moment for travel agents in Australia, with the Federal Government excluding advisors from the new independent Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme.
As part of the new policy, in the event of flight refunds and cancellations, travel agents will no longer be the meat in the sandwich, required to fork out money not yet received from suppliers. Instead, airlines will be responsible for providing refunds as part of a new Charter of Consumer Rights.
It is a big relief for agents, many of whom still have nightmares of delivering refunds to clients during COVID without any funds.
ATIA CEO Dean Long hailed the policy as a “significant win” for its members and testament to the organisation’s ongoing advocacy to recognise the unique plight of intermediaries such as travel agents.
In the lead up to the White Paper, Long expressed concern that Australia might make the same mistakes of the past and follow the likes of the United States into adopting “crazy” rules.
Speaking to travelBulletin in May, Long cautioned that any changes to aviation refund policies must not lead to similar scenarios experienced during the “COVID travel credit debacle”, and in doing so, avoid any mass closure of businesses.
“ATIA has been working with the Federal Government, the Opposition, crossbenchers, and key public servants to ensure they have the best advice moving forward to make good decisions,” he said at the time.
Long also criticised US refund reforms that require agents to pay back taxes associated with cancelled airline bookings that will not be put back into the pockets of agents by the government.
A “missed opportunity”
However, not everyone is happy with the proposals put forward by the government, with the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) labelling the White Paper “disappointing” and a “missed opportunity” to bolster the rights of Australian travellers.
The legal body was particularly critical that there was no simple flight delay compensation scheme included.
“The proposed Charter of Rights and the Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme are an improvement on the current situation but overall… the government has committed to keep Australian passenger rights behind the EU, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Brazil, India, Turkey and countless other jurisdictions for the next 25 years,” ALA’s Victoria Roy said.
The ALA also noted there are open questions around how passengers will be compensated for elements outside of the ticket price, such as inconvenience and distress, arguing that without a delay compensation scheme, this will be more difficult to quantify.
Slot reforms
Another significant part of the White Paper are the slot reforms, which are set to be overhauled to encourage more competition and transparency.
The Federal Government has undertaken moves to ensure the anti-competitive practice of slot hoarding in particular is phased out, placing more pressure on airlines to adopt a use-it-or-lose-it approach.
It has been argued for years that the slot system at Sydney Airport has been indirectly responsible for the failure of competitors like Bonza, and a disincentive for foreign flagged carriers to make expansion moves on the Aussie market.
“Without new entrants to the market, incumbent airlines lack incentive to innovate and improve service,” stated the report.
Slot reforms from the report include the following:
- temporarily allowing up to 85 movements in an hour to support the recovery of operations at the airport following a significant and sustained disruption, such as a severe weather event, for a maximum of two hours;
- requiring additional reporting by airlines and the Slot Manager of slot allocation and use, including the reasons for cancellations or irregular slot movements and slots lost due to misuse or not meeting the 80:20 rule;
- allowing operators of New South Wales regional services to access additional slots in more desirable peak times and allowing other airlines to use slots that had been reserved for regional New South Wales flights but were not being used;
- providing flexibility for the Slot Manager to ‘re-time’ certain slots to improve efficiency, with agreement of the relevant airlines;
- allowing airlines greater flexibility to use different sized aircraft;
- making the Minister responsible for development of the Sydney Airport Demand Management, rather than the Slot Manager.
- adopting international definitions of ‘new entrants’ to increase these operators’ priority in slot allocation – with ‘new entrants’ to include airlines with fewer than 7 historical slots on a given day, up from fewer than 5;
- adopting the WASG definition of ‘slot misuse’ to enable improved scrutiny and enforcement.
Making airports accessible for all
In recent years, the needs of travellers with disabilities have come to the fore, with airports being the source of much frustration and anxiety for many people with needs.
Yesterday at the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Conference in Melbourne, Wendi Pearce, Head of Traveller Experience at Melbourne Airport, discussed the major changes being made now to create a smoother experience for people with disabilities.
“As an airport, we know that we’re a trigger. As soon as someone steps across the threshold into a terminal. There’s a term we say, which is ‘plus 30’. So whatever they someone was feeling, their level of anxiety goes up 30% [at the airport],” she explained, adding that there are 16 points of departure and 10 points of arrival for passengers to reach their destination.
The new policies for accessibility in the White Paper include:
- The launch of aviation-specific disability standards, which will be co-designed with the community. These standards will detail the obligations of airlines, airports and other suppliers to facilitate the passenger journey of people with different abilities. The draft standards will launch in 2025;
- An improved end-to-end passenger journey for people with disabilities, at every point from arriving at the airport, checking in, security screening and boarding, all the way to arriving at their destination, disembarking, collecting their baggage and leaving the terminal;
- A simpler approval process for people with assistance animals and wheelchairs powered by lithium-ion batteries;
- Airline policies that limit the number of passengers on a flight who require assistance will be reviewed;
- The creation of new user guides that outline airlines’ and airports’ obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act;
- Leased Federal Airports will be required to demonstrate their plans for disability access.
The Aviation White Paper can be found here: www.infrastructure.gov.au/AviationWhitePaper
