When will air passengers finally benefit from cheaper fuel?
With jet fuel prices dropping dramatically, many are asking, “When will passengers see some reduction in airfares and an end to fuel surcharges?” The answer is not looking good for consumers. However, with major European carriers seeing about 25 percent growth in profits, it seems that passengers should be seeing some kind of price benefits.
The cost of aviation fuel has halved in the past 12 months, and is now at a six-year low. Airlines argue that this raw price doesn’t reflect what they actually have to pay: they hedge their fuel buying to protect themselves from sudden price surges. But hedging costs are also determined by the current price of fuel, so after a year or more of much lower rates, they will have fallen sharply too.
The biggest mystery for consumers remains the way the airlines apply fuel surcharges to their fares. Airlines have to quote “all-inclusive” fares, but many include a surcharge in the breakdown of other taxes and charges that make up the total fare. This week, an international lobby group, the United Federation of Travel Agents’ Associations, wrote an open letter to IATA (which represents the airlines) asking why so many airlines continue to include fuel surcharges in their fares, at a time when the cost of fuel has plunged. “How long will this charade be tolerated by the consumers?” it asked.
Airlines liable for compensation in case of unforeseen technical faults: EU court
Is a mechanical failure an “act of God” or an “extraordinary circumstance” that exonerates airlines from providing passengers any compensation? Finally, a European court of law has decreed that airlines must pay passengers compensation when flights are canceled or delayed due to unforeseen technical problems.
The case was brought by a Dutch couple whose flight from Quito, Ecuador, to Amsterdam was delayed by 29 hours. KLM refused to pay compensation on the grounds that the technical faults that caused the delay were extraordinary circumstances.
Under EU law, air carriers do not have to pay compensation if the cancellation or delay is caused by “extraordinary circumstances” such as bad weather, strikes and political instability, which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
KLM argued the two defective components at the root of the delay had not exceeded their average lifetime and that the manufacturer had not provided any specific information on which defects might arise once the equipment reached a certain age.
The Luxembourg-based court said that while technical problems could constitute extraordinary circumstances, for example those caused by acts of sabotage or terrorism, the same could not be said for issues that arise during maintenance of the aircraft or from a failure to carry out such maintenance.
Hilton Hotels looking into possible data breach
Blog reports have indicated that Hilton has suffered a data breach that has to do with its gift stores and restaurants. Clients’ credit card information may have been exposed.
In a statement to NBC News, a Hilton Worldwide spokesperson said it was aware of the report.
“Hilton Worldwide is strongly committed to protecting our customers’ credit card information. We have many systems in place and work with some of the top experts in the field to address data security. Unfortunately, the possibility of fraudulent credit card activity is all too common for every company in today’s marketplace,” the statement said. “We take any potential issue very seriously, and we are looking into this matter.”
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.