Qantas Business Class customers bumped to economy in Tokyo

[MEL_Traveller]

Insofar as QF (or all Aussie airlines) is concerned, the problem with Sections 18, 21 etc. is that QF could readily argue that they do advise passengers that flights may be overbooked, seats / class of travel are not guaranteed and downgrades are possible. Those disclosures are QF's defence against accusations of misleading, deceptive, unconscionable conduct, fitness of purpose and perhaps even the amount of compensation paid, which the airline advises is at their discretion (which therefore presumably infers passenger acceptance).

For those reasons I don't think the general sections of the C&C Act are of much use if the intention is to change airlines' behaviour (obviously QF's long standing behaviour in this regard is proof of that). Laws need to be changed to specifically define what is / is not acceptable practice by airlines regarding downgrades, compensation etc. and stop the practice of airlines themselves setting the rules under which they operate with regard to overbooking etc.

Exactly right.

But this is why a separate piece of consumer protection law relating to airlines is so desirable. EU261 operates in that way - separate to any existing remedies which could require a prosecution and a lengthy legal battle. EU261 cuts through all of that.

Sure the ACCC might investigate. But that could take months or years, and who wants to take each individual case to court? Better to have a piece of legislation that simply states what is available when you have a downgrade (or delay).

I wonder if it's possible that 18(1) could come in to play in terms of the compensation offered at the time of the downgrade. Without a clearly published downgrade policy, when a check-in agent says 'you can have a seat in economy and you'll get refunded the difference' - is that misleading when the passenger might rightly assume they will get the full difference between a discount economy fare and the fare they paid (not the full walk up last minute fare).

Other sections of the act - for example making the purpose of the goods or services known is something which is quite difficult. You would probably need to call the airline to make the booking (and incur a service charge), and specifically tell them 'I need business class because of my bad back / extra comfort / whatever'. Or that you 'need the 8am flight to Sydney for a business meeting at 10'.

It's unlikely people will go down that path.

But even if they did... at the time of the downgrade there is always the option for the passenger to take a later flight in their ticketed cabin. So the only thing the passenger is experiencing is a delay.

If the airline does a last minute oversell... for example a VIP rings a couple of hours before their flight to LAX and wants a first class seat... is that engaging in unconscionable conduct if the airline already knows all passengers have check in for the flight and the cabin is full? But how would a passenger prove when the final booking was made that caused the bump?

And there's also the consideration of what exactly 'is' the product that an airline is selling. Are they selling a guaranteed seat? no. There are Australian legal cases where it's determined that all the airlines are selling is pretty much a right to a reservation on a flight (or something along those lines... it's been a while since I've read the commentary).

For all of the above - much easier to have a set regime separate to the existing laws... so you don't have the burden of proof or other legal issues to contend with.