CAB to study refunds for delayed, cancelled flights

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista believes that it is about time that Filipino consumers get some relief from airlines who delay or cancel scheduled flights, specifically if the delay or cancellation is due to their own action and is not due to a force majeure situation.

In an interview, Secretary Bautista said that he would ask the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) to study the imposition of a refund policy similar to what the US government recently ordered for airlines operating within the US who cancel or significantly change flights, delay checked baggage and who fail to provide certain services.

“I think we should do that also. However, it is the Civil Aviation Board that will have to study the adoption of such a policy,” he said.

The DOTr Secretary acknowledged consumer complaints that if they have to rebook a flight, the airlines are always quick to impose a penalty and an additional rebooking fee. On the other hand, if the airlines are the ones who cancel or delay a flight, the hapless passengers are not given adequate explanation or are left to their own devices on what to do, especially if they have important meetings or connections to meet.

And the sad part is, once a passenger opts to transfer to another carrier, the passenger will have a hard time trying to get a refund on his original flight arrangements.

The recent pandemic in 2020 had resulted in several planned trips that year being cancelled, me included, but lucky enough for me, I was still able to renegotiate my ticket four years after, although I had to pay additional charges and fees.

Other friends I know complained that the airlines had imposed tight conditions on the time allowed to rebook the flight or seek a refund. According to them, they were just given 90 days to file a refund claim or opt for a rebooking.

At the height of the pandemic, of course, almost everybody was so scared to go out, apart from the fact that unnecessary travel was also restricted by local authorities. So much so that for some of those who had made advance travel booking, they just forfeited what they had already paid for.

I am not so sure how long it took others or if they were even able to get a rebooking or refund for their pandemic bookings, especially since the situation did not return to normal until 2022.

Likewise, in the event of delayed baggage, passengers are always at the mercy of the airline. In my own experience in claiming compensation for lost baggage, I was again fortunate because it happened in the US with an American carrier.

However, it was also not as straightforward as it would seem since the American carrier required proof of the content and cost of the luggage and receipts, if any, for the content. Thankfully, since I was visiting and of course outlet shopping at that time, I had all of the receipts for what I had in the luggage, but again the correspondence process still took all of three months before I was finally reimbursed and also because my relatives in the US were diligent in following up my claim with the US carrier.

Secretary Bautista said that a refund or compensation policy would be applied equally to all airlines that operate in the Philippines. Thus, if such a policy is adopted, foreign airlines would have to comply similar to what Philippine airline companies have to follow in countries where they fly to. The DOTr head sadly admitted that foreign airlines currently are not required to refund.

The refund/compensation policy, according to Secretary Bautista “should be applied to all so that there is uniform implementation.”

The country’s flag carrier, Philippine Airlines, as attested by its president and chief operating officer Capt. Stanley Ng, has admitted that PAL is already complying with a refund and compensation policy in Canada and will comply with the US Department of Transportation directive when it takes effect in six months to one year.

Even so, Capt. Ng pointed out that PAL has been strengthening its policy of being more professional and on time with its flight scheduling and repairs so as not to inconvenience its passengers.

Thus, if local airlines are prepared to comply with foreign directives on refunds and compensation when they fly abroad, why should they not be subject to a local refund or compensation package here in our own country?

Dangerous Philippines driving habits

Following my interview with Secretary Bautista last week, I had driven up to Baguio to attend the business journalism seminar of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) sponsored by San Miguel Corp.

Driving to Baguio for the weekend, or even overnight, is now a short four to five hour trip via the SMC Skyway, NLEX and SCTEX and again the SMC TPLEX, and costs around P900 from Manila to Rosario in Pangasinan (it would cost more or less depending on where you get on the Skyway).

I have been so used to driving in the chaotic stop-and-go, snarled traffic of the city, that I am so inured to the bad driving habits of Filipinos, most especially now from motorcycle riders who dangerously weave in and out of traffic and barely have any knowledge of driving rules and etiquette.

City driving is very much different from highway driving because of the faster speed which, thus, needs adherence to rules and etiquette, or more simply, proper signaling to avoid/prevent a high-speed crash.

Perhaps it is just me and I am getting old and driving less, but I was horrified at the dangerous and reckless driving as we traversed NLEX and SCTEX. Curiously, driving along the Skyway and TPLEX is actually safer since SMC is strictly implementing a speed restriction and their security force is always visible.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for NLEX and SCTEX where traffic rules are mostly ignored. Am not sure if new drivers are even taught the basic courtesy or if they practice safe and proper driving, such as slow vehicles should stay on the right and overtaking vehicles should do so only on the left side, thus the rule also of no overtaking from the right side.

These driving violations were being done so recklessly and so often at high speed during our entire drive. Buses and trucks were weaving in and out, slow vehicles kept on hogging the overtaking lane, thus drivers were weaving right to left to overtake the slower vehicle.

There were also a lot of instances that drivers were actually overtaking on the right shoulder which are supposed to be where cars experiencing trouble can slow down and stop.

There was total disregard of speed limits and I guess most drivers are also not aware of the rule of keeping a car distance away for every 10 KPH, which means that at 60 kph the safe braking distance between two cars should at least be six cars away.

Credit has to be given to the driving skills of Filipinos, but I am not sure what the statistics are really on highway accidents in the Philippines. Perhaps the government should release/publish more accurate data on that to make the public aware of the danger or reckless driving.