Such changes to the Air Code of the Russian Federation were prepared by the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy.
What are the current flight delay compensation and what is offered
According to the current version of the Air Code of the Russian Federation (Article 120), the passenger can be compensated for only 25% of the "penalty" minimum wage, which is equal to 100 rubles, for each hour of flight delay. For example, if the flight is delayed by 8 hours, then the payment will be 200 rubles. In this case, the fine cannot exceed 50% of the ticket price.
As reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta in the article "Money Falls from the Sky" dated February 4, 2018, the authors of the initiative insist that the current amount of compensation is incomparable with the cost of flights. The price of a ticket, for example, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok can go up to 50-60 thousand rubles one way. If the amendments are adopted, the penalty for late delivery of a passenger, baggage or cargo will increase from 25 to 100 rubles for each hour of delay, but not more than 50% of the cost of the flight. The airlines will also have the right to prove their innocence if the delay occurred due to the elimination of an aircraft malfunction that threatens the life and health of passengers, bad weather conditions and other circumstances beyond the control of the airline.
Today, passengers are rarely compensated - people just don't want to waste their time for ridiculous amounts. In addition, it is difficult to prove that the reason for the flight delay was not external factors, namely the negligence of the carrier.
“It's not a fact that if the fine rises to 100 rubles, the mechanism will work in full. Those whose flight was postponed for a couple of hours will still not be interested in this amount of compensation. However, after 10 hours of downtime, a thousand rubles are already accumulated. two thousand rubles, this is half of the amount that the carrier will have to return ", - says the head of the portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov. Plus, according to him, the airline has the obligation to drink, feed and accommodate a passenger in a hotel in case of a flight delay. And this is also a big expense. New flight permits, payment for a downtime at the airport, and so on are also imposed here. "Excessive financial burden is already a serious incentive for carriers to avoid long delays in flights," Gusarov believes.
A serious breakthrough was expected in connection with the ratification by Russia of the Montreal Convention, which sets out the rules for international transport. Many hoped that now about 400 thousand rubles could be received from the airline for flight delays. However, not all so simple. Reimbursement is made not for the flight delay, but for the damage caused due to it. And these are two big differences. The Air Code specifically provides for a penalty for delay, and it is levied regardless of the harm. If we are talking about responsibility specifically for causing harm, then this harm - material or moral - also needs to be proven in court.
Have changes been made to the Air Code?
As of October 2018, the amendments to the Air Code of the Russian Federation described in the article have not been adopted.
Indeed, increased compensation for flight delays would be a strong incentive for airlines to be punctual, and compensation for passengers would be more tangible.
