Radio Interview on ABC AM with Sabra Lane

SABRA LANE: The Federal Transport Minister is Catherine King. I’ve asked her about those job losses and the Government’s new Aviation White Paper, which will be released in full later today. The Government wants to bolster the rights of passengers by putting in place a charter of rights to allow compensation for cancelled flights and better service for those with a disability. I spoke with Catherine King earlier.

[Excerpt]

Minister, thanks for joining AM.

CATHERINE KING: Thanks for having me.

SABRA LANE: We’ve had the Bonza collapse this year. Rex is in big trouble. Former consumer watchdog Allan Fels says Qantas is price gouging customers. Will the White Paper have answers to these problems?

CATHERINE KING: Well, certainly the White Paper that we’re releasing today is the culmination of two years of work to really look at how do we set aviation up in Australia for the next 20 years? We know there have been significant problems, and obviously leading into COVID and now post-COVID as we’re in that recovery phase, both with the challenges that many airlines are facing, the collapse of Bonza, and obviously Rex being in voluntary administration. But also we know that the customer experience has been very poor through that period as well, which is why part of the White Paper has focused significantly on how can we make sure that the rights that consumers have around refunds, around delivery of service can actually be met by our airlines, whether that is Qantas or Virgin, or our international airlines?

SABRA LANE: The competition watchdog, the ACCC, had recommended that carriers be fined for cancelling flights and made to compensate passengers like Europe does. The Government instead is opting for an ombudsman. Why?

CATHERINE KING: Well, the Ombuds Scheme in the first instance allows for the development of an aviation customer rights charter, and also because it will be legislated penalties and enforcement. So, it may well be that the Ombuds Scheme does recommend or does insist that the- that an airline does have to pay both refund plus compensation. But the reason we’ve set it up in this way is that it’s administratively simpler. It’s a scheme that has been held in other industries, for example in telecommunications, and it provides that direct avenue for people to be able to put in complaints and be able to have a clear view about what their rights actually are.

At the moment when people buy a flight or buy a ticket, they’re entering obviously into a contract. And there are multiple versions of that contract, when you look online at any ticket that you buy, that have a whole range of conditions on them. I think most people when they’re booking a flight don’t- are not aware of what those conditions are. What we’re trying to do is make sure that there is consistency about conditions that people are- the contracts people are entering into, and that they have a clear pathway to enforce their rights when they’re not delivered with the service. And the bottom line is, if people don’t get the service that they are expecting, then customers deserve to get their money back or they deserve to get an equivalent service. And that’s really not what’s been happening when it comes to the consumer space.

SABRA LANE: When it comes to the Ombudsman’s Office investigating and mediating issues, how timely do you expect problems will be resolved? Will this White Paper set out guidelines for that?

CATHERINE KING: What I’ve done is establish an interim ombudsperson in my department, and that person will start on the Charter of Rights immediately. We will need to legislate, so we have to go through a consultation phase to establish this. So, we’ll put that out today as well, so encourage people to have a look at it and to comment about what their expectations are in terms of timeliness of responses. And over time, this is really about trying to improve the performance of airlines, plus airports as well. Airports are captured in this scheme.

SABRA LANE: The Government also wants the sector to better serve people with a disability. Sometimes the airlines limit the number of disabled passengers on board flights, and they’re not equipped to accept them on flights. How will you stop that?

CATHERINE KING: Well, the first thing is having a look at just how widespread this is. You know, we’re certainly hearing that there’s a two-wheelchair policy, for example. Now, obviously safety is paramount, but if there is no safety reason, there is absolutely no excuse for airlines to be limiting the number of people who need wheelchair or who have mobility issues on an aeroplane. So, we’ve literally said that one of the things that we need to make sure is that we look at those policies and actually then prohibit them doing that. This work, though, is part of the immediate work that we want to do to try and improve the way in which people with disabilities experience flights and how they experience their- how they experience airports as well.

SABRA LANE: With the Rex administration, there have been related job cuts in dependent businesses. For example, Aus Flight’s cut 75 jobs. Industry reps say there’s been no attention on that. What are you going to do about those lost jobs and affected businesses?

CATHERINE KING: Well, certainly there has been attention on that. We know that there are creditors, multiple creditors, right the way through the depth. This is a very complex industry. And of course, there are businesses that serve Rex Airlines and they have become creditors. All of them are eligible for assistance through the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. My department’s been engaging with any employers or employees that come forward and will continue to do that. And the administrators will obviously need to be engaging with them as part of the creditors process as well.

SABRA LANE: Catherine King, thanks for joining AM.

CATHERINE KING: It’s very good to be with you, Sabra.

[End of excerpt]

SABRA LANE: Catherine King is the Federal Transport Minister