Airlines Must Be Held Accountable | Opinion

On April 24, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg issued a number of consumer protection rules, namely to protect passengers from hidden airline fees and require the airlines to provide them with automatic cash refunds when owed money.

"It represents the latest step—two steps in fact—in our ongoing journey as a Department of Transportation, under President Biden's leadership, to deliver the biggest expansion of passenger rights in the Department's history," said Buttigieg.

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This move certainly acknowledges, at least, the woes of many passengers—but is it enough?

Buttigieg noted that his department often hears about passengers not receiving the refunds that are owed to them, or are offered compensation in the form of vouchers or miles, instead of cash. Many are also oblivious as to their rights, so they accept what they are given.

Thus, the rules introduced are certainly a step in the right direction. However, there's little doubt that North American passengers are not nearly as well protected as they should be, especially when comparing to our counterparts in Europe.

Over the last few flights I've had, on one occasion, I had a delay of almost six hours at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on a two hour flight—based completely on internal issues. I had another delay recently on an international flight, followed by having to spend hours to change my connecting flight, only to get nearly bumped off of my original flight altogether because of overbooking. After spending hours on the phone with the airline as well as multiple online chats, I'm quite certain that I've acquired additional grey hairs and have shortened my lifespan.

The problem is that the airlines have no accountability. In attempt to flatter their profit margins, they often overbook flights. They will also cancel flights blaming "technical difficulties" or "weather" when, in fact, they just want to cut on the less booked up flights, bumping passengers on to the next one instead. That used to happen to me regularly on a route between Toronto and New York.

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There was no consequence to the airline.

As for my flight through LAX, for my pains, I was offered less than $20 worth of airline points.

But why should they offer more when there are no laws mandating that they should? Under existing laws, airlines only need to offer refunds if they cancel the flight itself and the passenger decides not to rebook an alternative flight.

In the European Union (EU), a regulation known as EU261 requires airlines to offer compensation to travelers not only for cancellations, but also for denied boarding, or delays of over two hours. With the exception of weather delays or other "extraordinary" circumstances, passengers are entitled to compensation ranging from 250-600 euros depending on flight and delay length. This measure incentivizes airlines to ensure that they properly schedule their departures and maintain their aircrafts.

This regulation isn't perfect, can poorly impact the airlines, and there's been some debate on whether it truly helps with on-time arrivals, however, we need to be looking at alternatives that fully consider both the airlines and the customers.

Many will say, if you're unhappy with one airline's performance, why not just take another? The problem is that they've all got a certain monopoly of the sky. There's a limited number of airlines, many of whom codeshare anyway, and ultimately, I'm running out of "good airline" alternatives. There's just not sufficient competition between the airlines to want to win over customers based on any competitive factor but price, these days.

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It isn't as if just any entity can start flying routes and consumers have access to endless choices. Some might even describe the situation as "cartel-like," with big players immediately squashing any newcomers. So, if we want to go from point A to B, we have a rather finite number of choices.

At the same time, I'm sympathetic to the fact that airlines have low profit margins, on average at just 2.7 percent or so. But low profit margins don't tell the full story. The airline industry's net profits are expected to reach $25.7 billion in 2024.

This is also an industry with much risk—surging fuel costs, wars, pandemics, all have a profound affect. But it doesn't mean that these airlines can escape their responsibility to passengers. Beyond just delays, there's been cuts ranging from things like properly cleaned up cabins, to atrociously poor customer service. Last year, it took over six months to hear back from an airline about a complaint I filed. And I'm rarely able to connect with anyone when flights encounter issues.

I've also had a situation where my luggage flew without me, and after missing that connection through the airline's fault, I was forced to pay for my own hotel overnight. I can recount many more such experiences, and I'm clearly not alone in having had them.

We cannot continue to be at the mercy of airline autocracies who answer to no one, and while we might not want to copy EU regulations precisely, weighing the concerns of passengers with those of airlines, it's clear that North American consumers deserve far better protections than currently exist.

Katherine Brodsky is a commentator and writer who has contributed to publications such as Newsweek, Variety, WIRED, The Washington Post, Guardian, Esquire, CNN, Vulture, Playboy, Independent, Mashable, and many others—covering a diverse range of topics ranging from culture to tech—to spies. She tweets on X @mysteriouskat and writes random essays on Substack: katherinebrodsky.substack.com. Most recently, she has published her first book, No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage—Lessons for the Silenced Majority, now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at other book retailers.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.