The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the US government will make air travel pricier if it compels airlines to compensate travellers affected by flight delays and cancellations.
“The added layer of expense that this regulation will impose will not create a new incentive, but it will have to be recouped –which is likely to have an impact on ticket prices,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.
The IATA's May 9 statement came a day after US President Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the transport secretary, announced the new rules, which the government plans to implement in late 2023, ahead of Biden's bid for re-election in 2024.
"This rule would, for the first time in US history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels, and re-booking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay," Buttigieg said, standing before a sign that read "holding airlines accountable".
Echoing criticisms aired by Airlines for America, which represents the major US carriers, the IATA said the proposed requirement "could raise unrealistic expectations among travellers that are unlikely to be met" as most cancellations and delays in the US are due to weather and air traffic controller shortages.
"Runway closures and equipment failures also contribute to delays and cancellations," the IATA said, adding that the industry has been facing "supply chain issues in the aircraft manufacturing and support sectors" which in turn "have resulted in aircraft delivery delays and parts shortages over which airlines have little or no control but which impact reliability".
"Instead of singling out airlines as this proposal most assuredly does, the Biden Administration should be working toward ensuring a fully funded FAA, a fully staffed controller workforce, and completing the roll-out of the decades-delayed FAA NextGen air traffic control modernisation program,” said Walsh, whose association represents around 300 airlines carrying more than 80% of global passenger traffic.
The IATA said that the ten biggest US airlines already offer compensation to passengers affected by delays and cancellations, and added that "punitive regulations like these" in other jurisdictions, including the European Union, have had no discernible impact on cancellations or delays.