10/10/2017
I rarely write on aviation and travel matters and I think I may need to do away with political posts and focus on doing what I enjoy doing the most. So you should be expecting posts relating to aviation and travel in the nearest future.
Ok I will be writing on passenger rights. Your rights as an airline passenger when your flights are delayed, cancelled, you denied boarding or when your luggage is delayed, damaged or lost.
If you are a frequent flyer or you have once flown before you may have seen the terms and conditions spelt out on your tickets relating to boarding, delayed flights and cancellation etc. you may have heard stories of passengers beating up airline staffs because their flights has been delayed for hours and no information was given or passengers sleeping at airport terminals for days because the airline failed to lodge them in hotels due to flight cancellations. This happens probably because passengers do not know their rights as passengers and hence the reason why I posted this.
With respect to denied boarding, if your flight is overbooked, the airline has to ensure that the smallest practicable number of persons holding confirmed tickets with reserved seats are denied boarding involuntarily. Therefore, if you are denied boarding by your airline, you are entitled to compensation and the right to be reimbursed. The compensation is usually 25% of fares on all domestic flights and 30% on all international flights. Thus you can claim compensation from the airline if your are denied boarding.
Delayed flights:
For your domestic flights, when an airline reasonable expects that a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, you have a right to be informed of the delay within 30 mins after scheduled departure time and the reason for the delay. If your flight is delayed for more than two hours, you are entitled to refreshments, free telephone calls, text messages and emails. If your flight is being delayed for more than 3 hours, you are entitled to be reimbursed. If your flight is delayed for s time beyond between 10pm and 4am or when the airport at the point of departure or destination is closed, you are entitled to a hotel accommodation and free transportation between the hotel and the airport of departure.
With respect to international flights, when an airline reasonably expects a flight to be delayed, if the delay is between two and four hours, you are entitled to compensation, telephone calls, text messages and emails. If it's for more than four hours, you are entitled to free meals and telephone calls as well as free texts and emails. (The NCAA rules is however silent on whether a passenger is entitled to compensation for flights delayed for more than four hours. I think compensation should be included in this because it doesn't sound logical for you to give compensation to passengers whose flights has been delayed for up to four hours and leave those whose flights has been delayed for more than four hours without compensation). If your flight is been delayed for more than six hours, you are entitled to a hotel accommodation and free transportation between your hotel accommodation and the airport.
Cancellations
If your flight is cancelled, in respect of a domestic flight, you are entitled to compensation by the airline unless you are informed of the cancellation at least 24 hours before the scheduled time of departure.
With respect of an international flight, you are entitled to compensation by the airline however there are exceptions
1 you are informed of the cancellation at least 7 days before scheduled time of departure
2 you have been informed of the cancellation between 3 and 7 days before the scheduled time of departure and you have been offered rerouting allowing them to depart not more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
3 when they are informed of the cancellation less than 7 days before scheduled time of departure and offered rerouting allowing them to depart more than one hour before scheduled time of departure to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
When you are informed of the cancellation, you are entitled to explanation concerning a possible alternative transport.
The airline however is not obliged to pay compensation provided it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond its control and it is unavoidable even if all reasonable measures had been taken to prevent the cancellation.
Delayed, lost and damaged baggage.
If your baggage is delayed due to the fact that it was not carried along with you for safety and security reasons, you are entitled to be informed of the offloading and the airline must carry your off loaded luggage in the next flight and deliver same to the passenger. You are further entitled to compensation. For domestic flights it's N5k and for international flights, it is $150.
You are also entitled to compensation if your luggage is lost or damaged but how much money you will get is determined by the Civil Aviation Act.
Take note that if your airline refuses you all these, you are entitled to sue to claim damages and compensation.
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