Federal Appeal Court Denies Flyers Rights' Petition To Require Department Of Transportation Mandate Notices To Passengers For Delay Compensation Rights

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled against FlyersRights.org's attempt to bring U.S. airlines into compliance with the Montreal Convention, the international treaty governing air travel.

The Montreal Convention's Article 19 guarantees passenger compensation on a quasi-no fault basis for flight delays on international trips for up to $6,400. According to Article 3 of the treaty, the airlines must provide adequate notice that passengers may be entitled to such compensation for flight delays.

The court ruling allows the DOT to continue to abdicate its responsibility under its legal mandate to prohibit unfair or deceptive airline practices by ending the lack of  notice about passenger Montreal Convention rights. The court deferred to the DOT, who has argued that it has not collected enough evidence of passenger confusion.

Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org, explained, "The airlines only inform you that compensation may be limited, without disclosing the amount of delay compensation (up to $6400), how to obtain compensation, or that the treaty overrides any contrary provisions in an airline's contract of carriage. The airlines bury the information in dense legalese in lengthy contracts of carriage on their websites, so that the overwhelming majority of passengers are unaware of their delay compensation rights on international trips."

The three major U.S. airlines (American, Delta and United) with international flights either give no notice or bury notices in incomprehensible legal jargon deep in their web sites, and airline employees regularly misinform passengers that they have no delay compensation rights.  See https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/support/conditions-of-carriage   

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/contract-of-carriage.html#tcm:76-6643 ,

https://www.delta.com/us/en/legal/notices/overview

Mr. Hudson continued, "It is now up to Congress to mandate plain language notices to end airline delay compensation deception. This deceptive practice has deprived passengers of billions of dollars in delay compensation under international law."

The court's opinion for case number 19-1071, Flyers Rights v. Department of Transportation, can be found here:

https://flyersrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/FlyersRights-v-DOT-Montreal-Convention-case-DC-Circuit-OPINION.pdf

FlyersRights.org maintains up to date information for flight delay compensation at www.flyersrights.org/know-your-rights/ and also provides passengers with legal information and appropriate contacts by phone, 877-FLYERS6 and by email, [email protected].

FlyersRights.org, established in 2007, is the largest airline passenger organization. It publishes a bi-weekly newsletter, operates a free hotline for airline passengers 877- FLYERS6, advocates for passenger rights and interests, represents passengers on the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee dealing with air safety and maintains a staffed office in Washington, D.C. See: FlyersRights.org or https://twitter.com/FlyersRights. Media line 800- 662-1859. FlyersRights.org, 4411 Bee Ridge Road, 274, Sarasota, FL 34233

SOURCE FlyersRights.org

Related Links

http://flyersrights.org