Compensation is available now if an unfortunate airport wait takes a toll on your travel plans.
 

Yesterday, south China's Shenzhen Airlines released the country's first specific rules on cash compensation for passengers whose flights are delayed or overbooked. Compensation is payable only if the trouble was the airline's responsibility.

The rule notes that compensation of up to 30 percent of the ticket price will be due if the flight is four to eight hours late. Passengers may be refunded in full when the delay is longer.

Compensation rates for delayed airfreight and overbooked flights are also included the airline's new regulation.

"Delayed flights are the biggest problem among the increasing complaints about aviation services in recent years," said Deng Jiaben, an assistant manager with Shenzhen Airlines. "The introduction of the compensation rule is not only a great opportunity but also a challenge for us."

Similar rules are in the works at other major airlines, including China’s Shenzhen Airlines, officials said.

In late June, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) issued guidelines on levels of economic assistance given to passengers, based on the circumstances of their flight delays.

A flight reporting system has also gone into effect this month. Any flight delayed four or more hours must be reported to the aviation management authority.

Six airlines, including Air China and China Southern, have produced customer service plans in response to the CAAC guidelines. However, none of them states precisely what they will do for customers whose flights are delayed or canceled.

The CAAC has left the details to be worked out by the airlines themselves, but it has told them to have the plans on flight delay compensation completed and published by the end of this year.

For the most part, the airlines are inclined to be circumspect about the sort of compensation they are prepared to pay.

The most controversial provision concerns flights that are delayed for reasons outside the airlines' control, such as bad weather or state security concerns.

"There should be a kind of arbitration agency within the industry to judge complicated circumstances," said Yan Changzheng, director of Xiamen Airline's general office.

He speaks for a number of the airlines, which believe that they are responsible for taking passengers to their destinations in a reasonable time, but that the definition of reasonable time comes down to individual cases.

For example, thunderstorms delayed more than 100 Beijing flights last Sunday, and none of the airlines is under any obligation to compensate passengers because the delay was beyond their control.

"Complaining to the airline seems to be a waste of breath," said Peng Jianzheng, 52, a frequent traveler. "They always have various excuses." He said he is looking forward to the introduction of the detailed compensation rules.

"Passengers understand uncontrollable factors, but if a problem stems from something within the control of the airline, like a mechanical breakdown or staffing difficulties, compensation in cash is necessary," Peng added.

Gao Feng, an aviation lawyer with the Grandall Legal Group in Beijing, said that many countries have passed regulations that require refunds for passengers whose flights are canceled. China should also legislate compensation, he said.

CAAC reported that in the first five months of this year, overall aviation transportation turnover reached 58.9 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) and profits rose to 4.6 billion yuan (US$561 million), 3 billion (US$363 million) more than in the same period in 2002.

More than 46 million people flew in the first five months, an increase of 36.8 percent from the same period in 2002. Passenger numbers on international routes showed the highest growth.

The year 2002 is used for comparison owing to the distorting effects of the SARS epidemic last year.

(China Daily July 6, 2004)