CAB defers implementation of ban on overbooking of flights

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has suspended the implementation of the recently imposed ban on overbooking of flights by local airlines and the order that sets stiff penalties on bumping off passengers.

CAB, under Resolution No. 44 adopted last June 13, deferred Resolutions No. 28 and 29 that effected the ban on overbooking and laid out the penalties on “denied boarding” or bumping off passengers, issued just last May 11.

The issuance of Resolution No. 44 comes amid a flurry of threats from the local aviation industry that the policy issuances of CAB and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to address mounting complaints against local carriers’ cancelled and delayed flights, as well as cases of passengers that availed of promo fare tickets having their tickets cancelled, could put a stop to the aggressive promo fare offerings of local carriers, especially the low-cost carriers.

However, under Resolution No. 44, CAB said that the deferment of the resolutions was meant to prevent “confusion” for the public especially while it draws out the Passenger Bill of Rights that Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II had recently ordered to protect air travelers.

“In view of the fact that the Board and the Department of Trade and Industry are in the process of conducting public hearings on the Passenger Bill of Rights and the approval of the Passenger Bill of Rights will affect Resolution Numbers 28 and 29 which could in turn create confusion for the riding public, the effectivity of Resolution Nos. 28 and 29 is hereby deferred until such time that the Passenger Bill of Rights shall have been subjected to public hearings and approved” CAB said in Resolution No. 44.

In Resolution No. 29, CAB ordered the suspension of airlines’ overbooking option “until further notice, or conditions are such as to assure the Board that the practice is not inherently inimical to public interest.”

Roxas had directed the CAB to look into the mounting number of passenger complaints due to delayed and cancelled flights as well as other concerns on lost or misrouted baggage.

Roxas instructed the CAB, headed by executive director Carmelo Arcilla, to formulate the Passenger’s Bill of Rights, laying down the basic rights of airline passengers who buy air tickets with local as well as foreign airlines, which he said will be reviewed by the DTI as well as the different airlines operating in the country.

Roxas said the move was in line with the DOTC’s efforts to address the mounting number of complaints raised mostly by local passengers victimized by cancelled bookings or cancelled and delayed flights, especially for tickets bought under promo fares as well as other problems encountered by air travelers such as mishandled or missing baggage.

He said that the department would coordinate with the DTI as as well as the country’s leading local airlines for an effort to gather, as well as address, these complaints of air travel consumers.

Roxas had designated Undersecretary for Operations Rafael Santos to head a technical working group that will undertake the project.

Roxas, a former DTI secretary himself, said that Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo has already given his commitment to help the DOTC by lending expertise in their consumer affairs unit.

In CAB Resolution No. 28 issued last May 4, CAB had come out with a regulation order laying down the compensation and other obligations airlines would have to extend to passengers denied boarding on a flight, and those whose flights are delayed or cancelled.

Under amended CAB Economic Regulation No. 7, approved by the board last May 14, among the requirements that airlines have to give passengers of delayed and cancelled flights are refreshments or meals, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner as the case may be, hotel accommodation that is conveniently accessible from the airport, transportation from airport to hotel, first aid medicine if necessary, and even free communication such as phone calls, text and emails.

The amended ER No. 7, titled Economic Regulations on Boarding Priority and Compensation for Denied Boarding, Delayed and Cancelled Flights, also laid down the compensation due passengers denied boarding, also referred to as bumped off passengers.

The regulation required airlines, whether local or foreign, to compensate passengers who were denied boarding due to lack of space or seats P3,000 for domestic flights, and P5,000 for international flights, as well as reimburse them the full value of their ticket as based on the same rates.

Airlines usually resort to bumping off passengers when they have oversold tickets for a given flight. Sometimes, however, they also resort to this when an aircraft for a given flight suffers mechanical problems, and there is a need to change aircraft with the replacement unit having less seat capacity.

The compensation provided for passengers denied boarding also covers passengers on promotional fares.

However, the regulation also set exemptions from liability to compensate passengers of delayed and cancelled flights.

According to ER No. 7, carriers shall be exempt from liability for delay and cancellation when the flight was cancelled or delayed due to “operational, safety and/or security reasons, force majeure, weather, strikes or other causes beyond the control of the air carrier.”

The regulation also set exemptions on the compensation for passengers denied boarding, saying airlines are not liable to provide compensation on cases of government requisition of the space or seat, or there is a need for a substitution of equipment “of lesser capacity when required by operational safety and/or security reasons and other causes beyond the control of the carrier.”