Flight delayed, service denied?

Flying to an important event where your presence is expected, the flight was delayed by an hour and then another. You bear it despite the consequences to your schedule because it is common and you’re used to it. After all, sea travel is not an option, unless you’re cruising, and land travel is of course unthinkable.

Although not much to be excited about, there is actually a Passenger Bill of Rights, jointly issued by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as Joint Administrative Order No. 1. If you are at the boarding gate and the flight was delayed for three hours, you are entitled to meals. You will also be entitled to rebook or refund your ticket. You can also be endorsed to another carrier without additional cost to you if the delay was the airline’s fault. In fact, the Bill also says that if air carrier cancels the flight because of force majeure, safety and/or security reasons, as certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a passenger shall have the right to be reimbursed for the full value of the fare.

The Bill also captures the passenger’s right to be informed beforehand if the flight will be cancelled, but it did not contain the consequence to the airline if passenger was not informed. It seems passengers are doomed to just go through the rigors of preparation, airport transport costs, airport security and waste of time as they would most likely only learn of the cancellation or substantial delay while they are already in the airport. Bringing a case in court for this poor service and inconvenience is for almost all, impractical and will take up much effort and unjustified cost. So for the meantime, we are all at the mercy of airlines who may improve their service if they care about their patrons.

It takes courage and a lot of goodwill for an airline to publicly tell its passengers what their rights are in case of delays and flight cancellations. But an airline that does this, and delivers, is for keeps and should be the airline of choice.

An interesting or even crucial issue I would like to take up this Sunday is whether a fortuitous event, or those beyond the control of the airline, which causes material delay or even cancellation of flight, exonerates the airline. It is an important tenet in Civil Law that each party bears his own loss if what prevented the fulfillment of an obligation is an act or God or something that could not have been helped by human intervention. This makes a case decided by the Supreme Court involving a top international airline important to understand for passengers and airlines.

In this case, the passenger, a Filipina, gifted with musical talent, was then in Germany and was invited to make a special performance in Malaysia. She bought a ticket to Manila before she goes to Kuala Lumpur. The trip she booked had a connecting flight in Singapore. She missed that connecting flight by two hours because the departure of her plane from Frankfurt was delayed. The airline was not able to help her book a flight through an alternate route (Hong Kong) and neither was she given a complimentary overnight accommodation in Singapore.

She stayed in a friend’s house in Singapore overnight. Her mother helped her book a flight to Malaysia and cancelled activities in Manila. Her mother flew to Malaysia to bring her needed wardrobe and personal items there. Due to all the troubles she suffered, her singing performance was affected. It is safe to say that it was a traumatic experience for her.

The airline said it was not at fault for the delay because the plane, which was to depart from Frankfurt, was the same aircraft that came from Denmark. It wasn’t able to take off in time from Denmark due to significant fog. It couldn’t take off as it was unsafe to do so. In other words, fortuitous events made it impossible for the plane to depart on time.

What is interesting is that the Supreme Court (SC) brushed aside the defense of fortuitous event not because it is untrue, but because of the following:

The airline did not have the diligence to communicate to its passengers the consequences of the delay.

The airline said her ticket is non transferable so she can be book for a flight through Hong Kong, at her own cost.

The airline staff told her, “Can’t you see I am doing something…it’s your problem, not ours.”

She was not given free accommodation for the night.

She was awarded compensations and the airline was even penalized with an exemplary damages award.

What this case teaches us is that if the cause of the delay is a fortuitous event, the airline is not off the hook. It is required to do everything it can to minimize the inconvenience to the passenger at its own cost. If the airline does this and the passenger is still unable to get to the destination in time, regardless of the consequence to the passenger, the airline incurs no responsibility anymore.

I notice that the direction taken by the Supreme Court in the above case is actually consistent with international rules. For instance, under the Montreal and Warsaw conventions, the carrier shall not be liable for delay if it took all measures that it can to avoid the damage to the passenger due to the delay.

Thus, there are really legal grounds to hold the airline liable for damages if for instance, it cancels the flight and sent no prior notice to ticket holders of such cancellation because it is within an airline’s power to make this prior notice to passengers. Conversely, if the airline gave sufficient notice, it will be liberated from fault.

The SC said a contract of carriage is imbued with public interest. The diligence required of carriers is “utmost diligence of very cautious persons with due regard for all circumstances”. To us passengers, the issue is less complex. Inform us beforehand by calling, texting or e-mailing us if there will be cancellation or foreseeable delay. If we are at the airport and we suffer the delay, take care of us like your common house guests. And always relieve us from the worries of catching our connecting flights.

The peak of summer and vacation travels are upon us. We do not need a lawsuit, just a decent and stress-free travel experience.