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26 August, 2024

Government Aviation White Paper puts customer first, introduces industry Ombuds Scheme

By Zach Havard

The Federal Government’s much-anticipated Aviation Whitepaper was released today, unveiling a number of commitments, including an Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme, to better the Australian aviation experience and contribute to a stronger future.

The introduction of the Ombuds Scheme is among a slew of other commitments to deliver a better passenger experience.

Bonza was set to be Australia’s next low-cost alternative, though it collapsed in a little over 12 months earlier this year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant disruption aviation has experienced, impacting the flow of global trade and causing long-lasting interruptions to passenger services,” Transport Minister Catherine King said in her foreword.

Touching on the collapse of Bonza and the recent events of Rex moving to voluntary administration, King said: “These events have again highlighted the challenges to entering the aviation market, particularly in a smaller nation like Australia.”

Read the industry’s response to the paper here.

The Government’s vision for Australian aviation

In developing the Aviation White Paper, the Australian Government consulted extensively with industry, state, territory and local governments and the Australian community about how Australia can realise the full economic and social benefits of aviation, now and to 2050.

The white paper lays out five key pillars that the Australian market ‘should be’:

Safe and secure
Competitive
Productive
Sustainable
Fair

Qantas’ reputation has nosedived since September, Roy Morgan reports

Delivering a better customer experience

Following a tumultuous year in aviation in 2023 that saw the national carrier’s reputation take a major blow, pressure around slot-hoarding and the blocking of Qatar’s bid for new flights into Australia, the whitepaper comes at a timely moment.

To deliver a better customer experience, the Australian Government will:

Legislate for an Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme – It will have the power to direct airlines and airports to provide remedies to consumers and investigate customer complaints about airlines’ and airports’ conduct, with penalties for non-compliance.
Establish a new Aviation Customer Rights Charter to be produced by the ombuds scheme, setting out the fair and appropriate treatment of customers by airlines and airports.
Adopt a ‘show cause’ arrangement, requiring airlines to report the reasons for delays and cancellations as part of the airlines’ regular reporting of flight data to the Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE).
Make new aviation-specific disability standards as a schedule to the Transport Standards under the DDA.
Require airlines and airports to coordinate the facilitation of passenger journeys for people with disability.
Require airlines to offer passenger assistance profiles that will enable people to communicate accessibility requirements to airlines online, in advance.
Review airline policies that limit the number of passengers who require assistance.
Review industry compliance with the new aviation-specific disability standards.
The Australian Government will produce user guides that outline airlines’ and airports’ legal requirements under the DDA and the new aviation-specific disability standards.
Provide improved remedies for damage to wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
Amend the Airports Regulations 2024 to require master plans and MDPs to set out how development of the airport will enable access for people with disability.

Australian Travel Industry Association CEO, Dean Long welcomed the news of the Ombuds Scheme.

“This is a positive outcome for all travellers,” he said. “The establishment of the Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme is a crucial step forward in protecting consumer rights, ensuring that airlines and airports meet their obligations.

“Too many Australians have been left stranded when flights are cancelled or delayed, with little recourse. This new scheme ensures that travellers will no longer face these challenges alone. ATIA is proud to have played a role in advocating for these essential protections for travellers.”

RMIT Aviation Academy Director Lea Vesic said the White Paper appeared to address existing issues, not address plans for the future.

“The Federal Government’s Aviation White Paper seems to reactively address systemic problems in the aviation industry, rather than presenting a robust vision for its future,” Vesic said.

“Although attention has been rightly focused on market competition and consumer rights, there is much more to achieve in reforming the industry.

“Importantly, the government needs to meaningfully address skills demands by empowering training providers to meet industry needs in the long-term, rather than relying on industry to deliver short term solutions.”

RMIT Aviation Academy Director Lea Vesic.

Carriers ‘on-time’ performance not good enough

One of the glaring issues in recent times has been the number of flights leaving late.

If you’ve been on a few flights in the last 12 months, chances are you will have sat at the gate checking your boarding pass to make sure you’re not going crazy and that your flight was in fact scheduled to begin boarding 20 minutes ago.

The Whitepaper has called the issue out.

The period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a significant increase in consumer complaints about airlines. In many cases, airlines’ handling of flight cancellations, delays, refunds and flight credits has been unsatisfactory.

Despite more than two years having passed since most COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, the performance of airlines remains well below what Australians expect.

Over the 12 months to December 2023, 29.4 per cent of all flight arrivals were delayed, compared to the long-term average of 18.9 per cent; and 3.7 per cent of flights were cancelled, compared to the long-term average of 2.2 per cent.

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Australian Aviation Catherine King