Stories by Louis Ibah
Christmas/New year is just seven weeks around the corner. Yes, it is that time of the year when air traffic in Nigeria is usually at its peak. And it is also that period where passengers feel mostly abused, no thanks to a rise in flight delays and cancellations occasioned by bad weather, few aircraft in the fleet of domestic airlines and an increase in passenger traffic. No airline really enjoys delaying or canceling it’s flight. The airline wants to take off just as quickly as you do, return and pick other passengers. That’s the only way they make their money. But there can be a variety of reasons why your flight is still delayed.The worst part about delays is how they’re never predictable. As wise as it would be for those who wish to travel by air during the 2017/18 Yuletide to start booking flights early enough, the knowledge of how to seek redress in cases of cancelled, delays or even a missed flight is also important.
What to do
Before even anticipating the steps to take to get a redress if things go wrong, it is better to do the right thing first. You’ve heard this before, but it bears saying again: get to the airport early. Every step from check-in to security to boarding will take longer than usual during the Yuletide. So do your own part, arrive early at the airport. It is advised to target to check-in two hours before boarding for domestic flights and three hours for international flights. The law says airlines must alert passengers at least 30 minutes of a flight delay or cancellation.
Fly in the morning
On a route that has more than one flight on a day, always go for the early morning flight. Book ahead and pay. Being booked on the early morning flights always guarantees you a chance of flying, except the airline is not flying at all on that day. One third of all delays and cancellations are caused by maintenance issues, two thirds by weather. Delays accumulate exponentially throughout the day, meaning that you’re almost guaranteed to be delayed — with cancellation chances higher. But if you had booked to fly out from Abuja to Lagos by 7.30am, no matter how the flight is delayed, you are sure of being rescheduled for the next fligh. If your flight does get canceled in the early hours of morning, you will still have between 8am-2pm advantage to catch another flight, unlike someone who already booked a 2pm or 5pm flight.
Cancelled or delayed flight
Even after investing the energy and time carefully plotting every step of your journey, an unexpected delay or cancellation can frustrate your well-laid-out plans. But knowing your air travel rights and arming yourself with the right information to confront the airline can help you stay calm and carry on when anxiety-provoking situations arise. The Consumer Protection Council is a recent unit created in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the protection of the rights of air travelers. The rights are drawn from Part 19 of “Nig. CARs 2012, Vol. II.” And all airlines, foreign and domestic, are subject to the provisions of the Regulations which prescribes minimum rights and duties of passengers and the obligations of airlines.
The first right that air passengers should know that they have is that if your flight is canceled, your airline will have to provide you with “a seat on the next available flight on that airline or a cash refund.”
It therefore pays to always check your airline’s customer agreement – also known as a contract of carriage – for specific airline policies.
Next, if as a passenger you are faced with a severe delay of four hours or longer, ask for refreshment if it’s a local flight and a meal or hotel accommodation if it’s an international flight. However, in the event of a mechanical delay, the airline may cover meal, transportation and lodging costs on some local routes for persons who lodge a complain that they are stranded and have no where to go to if it’s too late.
When airlines won’t pay compensation
Compensation is not payable in the case of an “extraordinary circumstance”. For example, when the delay is due to war or civil unrest, security issues, natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, air traffic control restrictions, strikes by airport staff or industrial disputes that affect the operation of the flight, including a medical emergency on board.
What of a strike?
If you have a flight delay because of a strike, your airline has an obligation to offer you assistance if the delay is expected to go beyond a certain point. This may include refreshments and hotel accommodation. However, they are not obliged to offer financial compensation following a strike because strikes are usually considered to be “extraordinary circumstances issues.” Spokesman for Air Peace Limited, Mr. Christian Iwarah told Daily Sun that local airlines were very conscious of the rights of passengers and never abdicated it’s responsibilities in situations of flight delays or cancellations.
Said Iwarah, “if flights are delayed, compensation depends on the reason for the delay. Generally, if the delay was foreseen, a notice will be sent to passengers and the passengers have the option of accepting rescheduling their flights, requesting that the ticket be kept open for future use, or asking for a refund.”
“If they ask for a refund, they get the amount paid as fare 100 percent. If they request that the ticket be kept open for future use, if there is a fare difference when they eventually wish to use the ticket, we wave the difference.
“Sometimes, we give free tickets in deserving cases. In some cases where the delay exceeds two hours, refreshment is given to the passengers. Although passengers are not entitled to any compensation where the delay is due to weather and other circumstances beyond the control of the airline, we still give one form of compensation or the other.
“For instance, recently when there was a delay of two of our Abuja-Lagos flights due to VIP movements, we gave free tickets to a total of about 200 passengers on the two flights.
“Where the passenger misses a flight due to their own fault, we allow them reschedule for the next available flight after payment of a no-show fee and sometimes a fare difference where it applies. We also grant such passengers a refund less 25 percent of the fare paid. In some cases where a flight is cancelled, we also give hotel accommodation,” Iwarah added.
On international flights
On an international flight, Daily Sun learnt that if your flight to or from an European Union (EU) airport is delayed for three hours or more, you are legally entitled to receive the same compensation as those people whose flights have been cancelled. Same applies if you are flying with an EU-based airline such as Ryanair or British Airways.
If you have been informed that your flight has been cancelled at very short notice, international airlines will normally compensate passengers for the inconvenience. However, the only circumstances in which the airline is not legally obliged to provide compensation is if the flight was cancelled due to reasons beyond the airlines control, such as natural disasters like volcanic eruption, a strike or extreme weather. Depending on what airline you are flying with, you should expect a full refund or an offer of alternative travel arrangements, such as a seat on a different airline’s flight to your destination.
If you have been issued with a new flight ticket and have to wait in the airport for over two hours for a short-haul flight or over four hours for a long flight, you should be provided with food and drink vouchers at the airport. If the delay is outside the airline’s control, you may be able to claim on your travel insurance. Many policies include payouts for missed, delayed or cancelled flights, depending on what company you have purchased your policy with. Food and accommodation is only paid for by the airline if you are flying with an EU-based airline or are departing from an EU airport. While non-EU airlines should also refund you or try to accommodate you on an alternative flight, they may not provide you with food and drink. You can, however, try to claim these expenses on your travel insurance. Accommodation is provided on a case by case basis, depending on where you are from, where you are stuck, for how long and if you have any friends or relatives near by that can take care of you.