The travel ombudsman wanted to act as a mediator in disputes. The airlines refuse this.
If a flight is severely delayed or canceled, you as a passenger are only entitled to compensation. However, there are always disputes between passengers and airlines because of this. The responsible Federal Office for Civil Aviation (Bazl) is overwhelmed with reports. There are waiting times of around a year. The travel industry ombudsman has also received a sharp increase in inquiries about passenger rights. However, he is only responsible for flights that were booked through a travel agency or another travel provider.
The ombudsman wanted to change that and generally act as an intermediary between airlines and passengers when there are disputes. The airlines would also benefit from this, Ombudsman Walter Kunz recently told SRF. Successful mediation could prevent costly legal cases.
Airlines are declining
However, the airlines do not want to know anything about the ombudsman as an intermediary. They rejected his offer, like the magazine “Travel News” recently reported. The ombudsman charged an average of 1,000 francs per airline and year for his service. Given the airlines’ billions in revenue, this seems to be a manageable amount. However, the Board of Airlines Representatives Switzerland (BAR) did not respond to this upon request.
The BAR represents the approximately 40 airlines that operate in Switzerland (arrivals and departures). The organization wrote to SRF that the existing complaint options are “tried and effective instruments for enforcing passenger rights”. Additional treatment by the travel ombudsman is not provided for by law or regulation for airline passengers.
No statement from Swiss and Lufthansa Group
Swiss does not want to comment on the topic. Reference is made to the BAR. And the Lufthansa Group, which includes Swiss and Edelweiss Air, also does not answer SRF’s questions. At Helvetic Airways they say they are having good experiences with the existing system – “both for us and for our passengers”. An additional switching center is therefore not necessary.
Ombudsman is “disappointed for customers”
In an interview with the SRF consumer magazine “Espresso,” travel ombudsman Walter Kunz said he was especially disappointed for customers: “The airlines are leaving consumers out in the cold.” But the ombudsman office is probably “not so convenient for the airlines”. He assumes that the airlines want to ensure that passengers do not even pursue a case due to the long waiting times at the Bazl. An accusation that the companies contacted by SRF and the industry organization BAR have not commented on.
Kunz points out that the Bazl takes care of cases that involve passenger rights. These primarily affect canceled or severely delayed flights. “We receive very complex, different cases – loss of luggage, for example – which the Federal Office doesn’t even take into account,” he says. In the future, many airline passengers will no longer be able to report to the ombudsman. He consistently only deals with complaints if the flight was booked through a travel agency.