SENATOR THE HON BRIDGET MCKENZIE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LEADER OF THE NATIONALS IN THE SENATE
SENATOR FOR VICTORIA
SENATOR DEAN SMITH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
- 8% of flights cancelled or delayed in January (1,419 flights cancelled and 11,812 flights delayed)
- More than 1,400 flights were cancelled in January leaving tens of thousands of Australians scrambling to fix their travel plans.
- The Virgin group reported 633 cancellations and Qantas group (including Jetstar) reported 672 cancellations.
PAY ON DELAY BILL DEBATE IN SENATE TODAY
The Coalition today began debate on the Airline Passenger Protection (Pay on Delay) Bill to protect travelling Australians – who deserve an aviation industry where planes take off and land on time, and their bags arrive with them.
The Bill, debated for the first time today, is critical to ensure passengers are treated fairly and reasonably by the airline industry when disruptions occur.
The Pay on Delay Bill, a Private Senator’s Bill introduced by Senators Bridget McKenzie and Dean Smith, builds on the Coalition’s push for greater transparency in the domestic aviation market, and requires the Minister for Transport to establish and airline Code of Conduct within 12 months – bringing Australia into line with best practice in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The ACCC’s latest airline report showed service reliability remains below long-term industry averages, with the rate of flight cancellations and delays much higher than they should be.
Nearly thirty per cent of flights were either cancelled or delayed across the January holiday period, confirming there has been no improvement in the on-time performance over the past 12 months, according to data released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.
One airline delivered eye-watering cancellations on the Brisbane-Melbourne-Sydney triangle, with 13.6 per cent of Melbourne-Sydney flights, 10 per cent of Brisbane-Melbourne flights and 9 per cent of Sydney-Brisbane flights cancelled in January.
Shadow Minister for Transport, Senator Bridget McKenzie, said this first debate is imperative to hold Labor to account on its failures to provide Australians with the safe, reliable, and affordable airline industry they deserve.
“While ticket prices have risen and flight cancellations and delays head in the wrong direction, the Albanese Government has run a protection racket for an airline who dominates the industry, and stifled competition and cheaper airfares by blocking Qatar Airways request for additional flights last year,” Senator McKenzie said.
“This is not good enough.
“A recommendation of last year’s Aviation Senate Inquiry was to review airline consumer protections, and this Bill will ensure passengers are being treated fairly by the airline industry in the future.
“If the Minister won’t act in the face of the egregious behaviour from Australian airlines on the behalf of travelling Australians, the Coalition will.”
Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Senator Dean Smith, said the fact that it has been left to the Coalition to introduce this Bill was the latest example of how the Albanese Labor Government is failing Australian airline consumers.
“The Bill introduced by Senator McKenzie and I puts air travellers – not airlines or other industry operators – first,” Senator Smith said.
“The latest ACCC reports makes it very clear why this needs to happen, with an uncompetitive and unreliable sector riddled with delays, cancellations, lost luggage, and prices that are still too high.
“While we continue to fight for improved competition in the aviation sector, the Coalition is offering Australian air passengers the consumer protections they’re entitled to – because Labor obviously will not.”