Blog Marco

Won't it be cool if passengers can invoice the airlines for being late? Well it may become a reality for Australians under new laws proposed by the Government. Foreign airlines will have to pay up to $8000 a person for delayed flights, $1800 for lost luggage and $180,000 compensation for injury or death in a plane crash.

The changes, introduced to Parliament by the Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, yesterday, would bring Australia into line with signatories to the Montreal Convention, an agreement between 86 countries.

"The new scheme makes it easier for Australians to seek fair and timely protection," Mr Albanese said.

Under the old system, a passenger who lost their luggage would have to prove the carrier was at fault. If Australia ratifies the convention, the same passenger would receive up to $1800, no questions asked.

"So for your thousand-dollar bag you'd get your money back straightaway, no ifs or buts from the airline," a spokesman for the minister said. "It reverses the onus. If the bag is worth more than the threshold, it would be the airline that would have to prove it was not at fault."

Furthermore, claims under the old system were capped at an amount set in 1929 in a currency that no longer exists, the Franc Poincare. The Montreal Convention would review compensation amounts every five years and adjust them for inflation. The system allows claims of up to $180,000 for deaths or injuries, $8000 for delays and $31 a kilogram for cargo - all without proving fault. Larger claims are possible with legal action.

Qantas, Australia's biggest airline, approved of the changes. "Qantas welcomes the Government's announcement which will bring us into line with most of our major trading partners," a spokesman for the company said.

Australia is the only OECD country not to have ratified the convention, which was made law in the US, China, Japan and New Zealand in 2003 and most of the European Union in 2004.

Travel | Marco's blog | bookmark | reddit | cosmos»