National Assembly Delegate: Flight delays cause huge losses to customers, compensation regulations must be in place

At the morning discussion session on October 22, many National Assembly delegates expressed their frustration with the issue of flight delays and said that compensation should be regulated more specifically.

Delegate Pham Van Hoa - Photo: GIA HAN

This morning (October 22), the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam (amended).

Compensation for delayed customers needs to be more specific.

Speaking at the discussion, delegate Pham Van Hoa ( Dong Thap ) expressed concern about the compensation for damages to customers. He pointed out that many people had traveled by plane and all had their flights delayed, including leaders.

"There are flights that are several hours late, and I'm not talking about low-cost airlines here, other airlines have also had delays recently.

"While saying that the delay was due to flight operation is too general and unacceptable. For example, natural disasters and epidemics affecting the aircraft will cause delays. But saying that it was due to the aircraft operation in general is not a very reasonable mistake," Mr. Hoa stated.

He further cited the example of if flying to Can Tho , buying a ticket at 4pm and a while after buying it, announcing to apologize to passengers that "due to aircraft exploitation" the flight was delayed by 1 hour, and the flight would not depart until 5pm, which is understandable.

"They only informed us that we were late when we arrived at the airport. That is unacceptable," Mr. Hoa pointed out.

He emphasized that there must be clear and distinct regulations on flight delays. If not regulated by law, it must be regulated in a Government decree on how to compensate customers.

"Delayed for several hours, some passengers were able to go to the VIP room to rest, but others had to sit around for several hours, which is unacceptable," Mr. Hoa added.

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Cam (member of the Culture and Society Committee) said that many passengers use aviation services with airfares that are not cheap. However, cancellations and delays are still observed.

The passenger then boarded the plane and received only a single apology, delivered by the captain, which "seemed inadequate".

She emphasized that if it is due to weather or objective conditions, she completely sympathizes and agrees. However, if it is due to subjectivity in management, operation, or flight exploitation, there must be a satisfactory compensation mechanism.

"We have to study the form if customers' rights are violated, these flights are delayed, postponed, or canceled, what mechanism do we have...

In fact, being late for meetings is a huge loss. Being late for transactions or doing business, being canceled for several hours or being moved from one day to another greatly affects economic development.

Therefore, we propose that customer rights and compensation need to be further specified in this draft law," Ms. Cam suggested.

Delegate Le Huu Tri (Khanh Hoa) emphasized that the bill must address aviation discipline. According to him, although he cannot travel to many countries, he sees that Vietnamese airlines have too many delays.

This shows that the discipline in Vietnam aviation is not serious. This causes a lot of trouble and waste for society and passengers when they have to spend a lot of money, a lot of time, and even cause psychological instability.

Delegate Tran Cong Phan (HCMC) pointed out that currently, flight delays and postponements due to "operational reasons" are quite common.

He said that this was a subjective cause from the carrier, and could not be considered an objective factor like weather or security. If the delay was due to internal operations, the airline would have violated its commitment to passengers.

He suggested that the drafting agency consider more clearly defining responsibilities and compensation sanctions in case the airline fails to fulfill its commitment on time.

"Many delegates, including us, have had their work and meeting progress affected by flight delays lasting hours or even half a day. This is not only a loss for passengers but also affects the general activities of society.

Therefore, the law needs to clarify the responsibility of the carrier and specify reasonable compensation levels to protect the legitimate rights of passengers," Mr. Phan added.

Minister Tran Hong Minh - Photo: GIA HAN

Minister talks about the reasons for flight delays and cancellations

In response to concerns from many delegates about flight delays and cancellations, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh said that Long Thanh airport is being built with the goal of avoiding delays and flight delays and attracting international passengers.

Regarding the reasons for flight delays and cancellations, according to the Minister, we have airports but they do not meet international standards.

For example, recently, T3 - Tan Son Nhat and T2 - Noi Bai terminals were repaired. To meet international standards, there must be a runway and a landing runway, with a minimum distance of 1,350m.

But only Long Thanh airport can do this distance. If Tan Son Nhat airport does it, it will have to reach Cong Hoa intersection, requiring a huge investment of resources.

"Currently, our flights are both up and down combined. Airlines also share that each flight is delayed by an average of 15 minutes to 1 hour, consuming a lot of fuel in the air.

At international arrival terminals, for example, small airports that have not met 4E and 4F standards, there are no large aircraft arriving so airport operations are not effective," the Minister of Construction shared...

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-chuyen-bay-delay-gay-ton-that-rat-lon-cho-khach-hang-phai-quy-dinh-ve-boi-thuong-20251022114748957.htm