Three airlines, mainly from the German group Lufthansa, are being ordered to pay passengers almost a billion dollars for flight cancellations or major modifications due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US Department of Transportation clarifies today in a statement that Lufthansa agreed to reimburse US$775 million and pay a fine of US$1.1 million, while KLM of the Netherlands agreed to reimburse US$113.3 million and also pay a fine of US$1.1 million.
“Lufthansa has made all payments due to us. The delay in payment, which is penalized by the Ministry of Transport, is solely due to the historically unique level of compensation during the Covid pandemic,” a company representative told AFP, highlighting that the value of the fine applied “does not differ from the norm”.
In addition, South African Airways agreed to refund 15.2 million and pay a fine of 300,000 dollars.
Stricter regulation
“When a flight is canceled or heavily modified, you won’t be forced to fight the airline to get your money back,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttige was quoted as saying in the release. The flight cancellation rate was less than 1.2% in 2023 in the US, the lowest level in more than 10 years, despite a record number of scheduled flights.
The ministry announced on April 24 that airlines are now subject to stricter regulations in the US regarding passenger refunds and compensation in case of flight cancellation, modification or delay or loss of luggage.
Not only them refunds should be automaticbut the ministry also defined exactly what it is “significant change”: change of arrival or departure time of more than three hours for a domestic flight and more than six hours for an international flight, departure or arrival at a different airport, more intermediate stopovers, downgrade in relation to a reserved seat, etc.
Sources: AMPE, AFP