Remember when airlines cancelled or delayed your flights and then put you up in a hotel at their cost or compensated you financially?  

That was when air travel disruptions were rare. Delays, cancellations, and other travel horrors have become common post-COVID-19, and travellers must put up with it, sometimes at their own cost.  

National Seniors Australia General Manager, Chris Grice, puts it down to a gradual slide in the passenger air travel experience brought about by the airlines failing to maintain service standards.  

Only last week, Qantas announced that they were removing vegetarian meals from some domestic flights, "To travel was always an exciting experience. Yet today, I find myself thinking about whether I will get there on time and whether my bags will arrive,” Chris says.  

“From a business perspective, it is easier to have meetings via video and not travel. But that thinking is not good for business, and therefore not good for the general economy.” 

Older travellers, including National Seniors members, are concerned about spending their money with airlines that do not deliver service to community expectations. 

Discount domestic airfares are up 56 per cent in the last four months. It is the biggest fare increase in more than a decade, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).  

The ACCC report warns things will not change for the better until at least October.  

"We are hoping it does not go much higher, for the reason that there is some moderation in global oil prices," ACCC Chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said.  

The ACCC identified ongoing workforce shortages as a reason for cutting flights airlines, which pushed up prices and contributed to significant delays.  

More than 19,000 flights were delayed in July 2022 alone.  

The ACCC reports that on-time flights for July, which included the winter school holidays, were the worst on record since data collection began in 2003.

The ACCC is monitoring the performance of airlines, requiring them to: 

• Be honest and proactive in communicating to passengers why a flight is delayed or cancelled.  

• Explain how consumer guarantees apply. 

• Outline passenger compensations.  

Air travellers and consumer advocates want the airlines to voluntarily guarantee compensation for flight delays and cancellations, or be mandated to do so. 

Airlines in Australia alone decide whether to compensate or refund passengers. 

Qantas and Virgin include meal vouchers for flights delayed by at least two hours and can pay up to $200 and $220 for overnight accommodation. 

Jetstar customers wait at least three hours before getting a meal voucher and get up to $150 for overnight accommodation. 

Regional Express will provide food or drinks if available after a 90-minute delay. Yet, their website states that they will not cover the cost of overnight accommodation.

Carriers also do not guarantee flight timetables. Consumer law only states services should be supplied in a reasonable time. 

Consumer advocate CHOICE claims there are holes in Australian travel consumer law. It says, “existing consumer protections have not held up and protected Australian travellers.” 

CHOICE travel expert, Jodi Bird, told the ABC that problems such as travel protections do not require airlines to notify people about their entitlements, or when they are entitled to a refund. 

"There is a lot of information that can be provided to people to tell them what the existing consumer protections are." 

One example, he said, is airlines telling people they can get credit when they are also entitled to a refund. 

"There's also scope for improving the existing consumer protections," Mr Bird said. 

The ABC reports that the European Union (EU) provides clear-cut compensation for flight delays, cancellations, and overbooking. 

If your flight is delayed by at least three hours with less than two weeks' notice, you are entitled to between 250 and 600 euros, depending on the flight distance.  

The airline provides free meals and drinks, two telephone calls, faxes, or emails. You also receive accommodation and transport if your flight does not leave until the next day. 

Compensation is due if the airline is at fault and can be accessed if you are departing from an EU airport or arriving at an EU airport on an airline based in the EU. 

There are also clear refund guarantees.  

The United Kingdom has similar laws, guaranteeing consumer compensation of between 220 and 520 pounds for delays of more than three hours, and between 110 and 420 pounds for cancellations. 

In New Zealand, if the airline is at fault, you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to 10 times the cost of the ticket or the actual cost of delay, whichever is lower. 

Mr Bird said Australians deserve better and should look at adopting similar laws. 

CHOICE also wants a dedicated industry ombudsman to replace the airline-funded Aviation Consumer Advocate, which it gave a Shonky Award last year for being "little more than a forwarding service". 

"In Australia at the moment, there are a lot of people waiting on refunds, and they are getting [them] several months [later], not seven days."

Meanwhile, the ACCC continues to investigate Qantas over its travel credits scheme, as customers complained they were charged more for flights than if they had used other payment methods.

For further reading: ACCC, Choice.com.au and ABC