What are the rights of passengers and how airlines operate

Three aeronautical unions (APA, APLA and UPSA) announced a strike of activities for this Wednesday to demand a salary recomposition.

The measure affects not only Aerolíneas Argentinas but almost the entire airline operation since the state company Intercargo has a monopoly on baggage and passenger dispatch services for all foreign airlines operating in the country and also for most of Flybondi and Jetsmart domestic flights.

Although the statement signed by these organizations maintains that “we notify in advance sufficient so that both companies can take the necessary precautions so as not to affect the users, holding their authorities responsible for any inconveniences that may arise”, the passengers had to rearrange their trips.

When a flight is cancelled, you must always go to the airlineeither at an airport counter or through other means of communication, to make the necessary claim.

Depending on the reasons for the cancellation, the passenger will be rewarded or not. Since 2013, in Argentina, airlines are not required to make compensation if flights cannot depart due to weather issues.

The same happens in case of strikes, since the national regulations say nothing about it. There are rulings for and against airlines regarding claims for this reason.

Now, in what situations does the passenger can claim and ask for compensation for a cancellation?

According to resolution 1532/98, modified by 203/13, when operational, technical or commercial circumstances occur, the transporter cancel the delay a flight or the delivery of luggage for more than four hours, or denies previously confirmed boarding (overbooking), or cannot make a stopover at the stop-stay or destination point, the passenger has the following rights:

• the mandatory inclusion on the immediately subsequent flight of the same carrier to its destination,

• al endorsement of your contract transportation, including connections with confirmed space, when acceptable to the passenger,

• the to be rerouted by another route to the destination indicated in the contract, by the services of the carrier or the services of another carrier, or by another means of transportation, in the latter cases subject to space availability.

• If the passenger does not agree with the rescheduling, they can opt for the reimbursement of the passage.

Important: if the fare of the new route is greater than the value of the ticket purchased, the passenger does not have to pay no charge additional, but if the price of the rescheduled trip is lower, the carrier must refund the difference.

For those who do accept the rescheduling, the company also has to provide no feetelephone or cable communication to the destination point and local communications; meals and snacks in accordance with the waiting time; accommodation in a hotel, at the airport or in the city, when the delay of a flight exceeds four hours; ground transportation to and from the airport.

On the other hand, if the airline does not comply with its obligations, passengers always have the Administrative route or the legal jurisdiction to continue with the claim.

In this context, some of the airlines offered their users reschedule flights of affected passengers free of charge.

For example, for this Wednesday, Latam had 40 international flights scheduled from Brazil, Chile and Peru.

The airline proposed to its passengers delay or delay the flight up to 15 days after the original date.

Jetsmart, the low cost, will also be affected and released a statement inviting those affected to change their tickets without extra cost.

Flybondi canceled six flights and moved the rest of its operation to the Ezeiza International Airport, where it has its own service.

Lufthansa and Air Canada canceled their flights.