Plans for a new ‘passenger charter’ to be adopted by airlines and airports is being unveiled by the government today.
With a focus on supporting people with reduced mobility and hidden disabilities, the plans also aim to improve responses to passenger complaints and compensation claims.
The Department for Transport wants to promote best practice and create a shared agreement of the required service levels for passengers, ensuring improvements are felt throughout their journey.
A major focus of the charter centres on improving the flying experience for passengers with disabilities, providing clarity on the assistance that should be provided.
Performance against the charter will be monitored and regularly reviewed publicly by the Civil Aviation Authority, including a new system of measuring the performance offered by airlines, as well as airports.
Action will be taken if improvements are not made voluntarily, bolstered by an extension of legal standards and enforcement powers for the aviation regulator, including fines for breaches of accessibility and compensation measures.
The charter will also set out service level standards for all passengers for “timely and simplified resolution” of complaints and claims for
compensation when flights are disrupted.
It will incorporate work already undertaken by the CAA in reviewing the transparency and fairness of airline terms and conditions, including allocated seating and other unclear charges.
The passenger charter is being proposed as part of the government’s aviation strategy consultation later this year.
This will be subject to 16 weeks of consultation before finalisation of the policy in 2019.
The government has worked with industry, including disability advisory groups, to put forward a number of suggested measures including:
• strengthening accessibility standards for airports and introduce new standards for airlines
• ensuring better training for airport and airline employees
• raising awareness among disabled passengers of their rights to assistance and how to obtain it
• improving storage standards for wheelchairs and waiving limits for compensation payments
• working with industry to achieve the long term goal of passengers being able to fly in their own air-worthy wheelchairs
Aviation minister Liz Sugg said: “Our fantastic aviation industry connects passengers to destinations across the world with some of the best fares available.
“But we are determined to work with industry to continue to drive up service levels and the new passenger charter aims to improve the experience of all passengers when they fly.”
Visiting Gatwick airport to see its accessibility facilities, Sugg was joined by accessibility minister Nus Ghani to discuss how the charter could benefit passengers with disabilities.
Ghani said: “We need to address the fact that 57% of disabled passengers say they find flying and using airports difficult.
“That’s why our proposed passenger charter includes measures designed to make real changes that will improve the accessibility of flying, building on the ambitions set out in our inclusive transport strategy earlier this year.
“We are committed to continuing the progress the industry has already made in making the aviation network truly open to all.”
Meanwhile, the CAA has reportedly published an open letter addressed to the largest 30 airlines flying to and from the EU detailing how European law requires airlines to provide travellers whose flights have been cancelled with an alternative flight “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
In the letter signed by Paul Smith, group director of consumers and markets, the CAA said a survey of airline compliance found “a varied picture” in relation to how airlines handled passengers after cancellations and that there was “little clarity over how airlines made passengers aware of their rights… in particular that passengers may be entitled to be re-routed on the services of another airline”.
The CAA is giving airlines until the end of June next year to be clearer with how they implement the regulations or face enforcement action, The Telegraph reported.
Of the six-month period given to airlines to comply, the regulator said: “If an airline is not compliant within this six-month period, we would expect it to be able to demonstrate that it had taken all reasonable steps to achieve compliance as quickly as possible thereafter.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, the industry association that represents 13 UK carriers, said: “Delivering for the consumer is at the heart of an airline business.
“UK airlines operate in one of the most competitive sectors in the world, and look forward to working with government towards a new aviation strategy that will help them continue to do what they have always done best – connect UK families and businesses domestically and to the world, deliver tremendous value for money, and further improve the travelling experience for all passengers.”