Spineless government is preventing cheaper flights for Australians

The United States Congress is on course to pass legislation that will strengthen consumer protection for air passengers. The legislation aims to tame some of the most egregious examples of airline exploitation, preventing them from charging unreasonable fees for services including checked bags and seat selection.

It will also require airlines to compensate passengers denied boarding due to oversold flights. While this legislation is far less rigorous than that which applies in the EU, where airlines are required to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed, US flyers are applauding.

The move is in stark contrast to the inaction of the Australian government, which has no appetite for ensuring that Australian travellers receive fair and reasonable treatment from our airlines. Our airlines are free to write their own terms and conditions as they please without fear of legislation that makes them do otherwise. That’s despite a growing mountain of evidence of shoddy treatment of air travellers by some of our airlines, and Qantas is the main offender.

The government recently denied a request from Qatar Airways to boost the number of flights it operates into Australia. The airline was proposing to add 21 flights a week between Doha and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. This would add about 7000 seats a week, and increased supply would exert downward pressure on the outrageous prices that air travellers are having to pay for international flights.

Without saying why, Transport Minister Catherine King stated: “The Australian government is not considering additional bilateral air rights with Qatar.”

The Qatar Airways proposal was opposed by Qantas, which is reaping massive financial rewards from the relative lack of capacity on international routes out of Australia, and the consequent high prices. The airline’s chief executive, Alan Joyce, has denied Qantas exerted influence over the decision.

Speaking of the opposition to the US legislation, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said, “To be very blunt, the major obstacle to improving service is the industry’s lobbying.”

The industry “has dollars and lawyers and lobbyists that enable it to block effective reform”.

The industry he was referring to is the airline industry.

In the case of the Australian government, allowing airline lobbyists to dictate terms that override the interests of consumers shows a spineless dereliction of duty on the part of those whom we trust to protect us.