Why You Can’t Get Compensation for Cancelled Flights

Why You Can’t Get Compensation for Cancelled Flights. Daily Law Tips (Tip 748) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)

Introduction: 

You probably have seen several publications on the compensations for cancelled flights in Nigeria and how to access such compensations. You should also note that there are conditions and circumstances that will allow an airline not pay any compensation for cancelled flights in Nigeria. Whether local flight or international flight, airline operators are protected from paying compensation for cancelled flights under certain circumstances. So, this leads to the doctrine of “All are for cancelled flights but not all are for Compensation”, where although all passengers of cancelled flights are denied the opportunity to fly the cancelled flight, not all the passengers of cancelled flights are entitled to compensation.

Doctrine of “All are for Cancelled Flights but not all are for Compensation”:

There are several reasons that may prompt an airline to cancel a flight. Ordinarily, once there is a cancellation of flight, there should be a payment of compensation to passengers that have booked the cancelled flight. After all, the passengers have lost the opportunity of buying tickets from alternative airlines at a given cost and time, and more importantly, the passengers must suffer chains of direct and indirect inconveniences. Well, this is the general thinking and the definition of justice in the eyes of passengers. What of justice in the eyes of the airline operators and then the laws of Nigeria?

Nigeria airspace is highly regulated, like any other natural resource (water, land, crude oil, gas, gold, plants, animals and human beings) in Nigeria. Aside the constitution of Nigeria, the next most important federal law on the Nigerian civil aviation sector is the Civil Aviation Act 2006. It is the federal law that creates and empowers all stakeholders, the regulator and the participants in the civil aviation sector in Nigeria, including the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

It is the duty of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), a federal government agency to regulate technical and safety issues in the entire Nigerian civil aviation sector. Also, there is the Federal Ministry of Transportation empowered to handle policies and strategies in the Nigerian civil aviation sector. In exercising its powers to make regulation on aviation safety and security, commercial air transportation and other related services, the NCAA made regulations in 2015 (the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations). It is actual a series of amendments since 2006 that led to the 2015 regulations.

Among other things, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations made provisions for consumer protection issues (rights and obligations of airlines to their customers (passengers). This includes the rights of customers to compensation for overbooking, delayed flight, cancelled flight both for domestic and international flights as well as for delayed, lost and damaged baggage. By the Regulations, generally, where an airline cancels its flight, all passengers are obviously denied the opportunity to fly the cancelled flight but not all the passengers are entitled to compensation from the airline. This position gave birth to the doctrine of “All are for Cancelled Flights but not all are for Compensation”.

Passengers that cannot be Compensated: 

By the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations 2015, where an airline cancels its flight, the passengers of the cancelled are stopped from boarding the cancelled flight but not all the passengers of the cancelled flight are entitled to compensation from the airline. So, this is why you (or any passenger) can’t get compensation for cancelled flights in Nigeria, including domestic and international flights. However, an airline must inform its passengers of every cancellation of flight as well as offer alternative transportation. The duty to prove that an airline sent notice of cancelation of flight to a passenger rests on the airline. Details of the circumstances that determine the passengers that are to be compensated and passengers that are not to be compensated for their cancelled flights, are shown below.

There will be no compensation of a passenger of a cancelled flight (whether local or international flight), where;

1. The passenger is traveling free of charge or at a reduced fare/cost that is not open to the general public. This refers to passengers that were to fly without any cost or at reduced cost due to their internal relationships with the airline and not because of any public bonanza or special sales and ticket programs.
2. The passenger does not have a confirmed reservation on the cancelled flight (may be the passenger has a mere unpaid reservation, like the popular “book on hold”).
3. The passenger is under a packaged tour and there is a cancellation of the packaged tour for any other reason apart from due to cancellation of flight by the airline.
4. The cancellation of flight by the airline was due to extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided, even if all reasonable measures had been taken by the airline. Extraordinary circumstances include mechanical, technical, operational, climatic, socio-political or any other conditions beyond the actual control of the airline.
5. The passenger was given adequate notice of the cancellation. An airline will not provide care where the airline communicated the passenger, informing the passenger about the cancellation of flight, at least within 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight for domestic flights and 7 days before the scheduled departure time of the flight for international flights. Passengers of international flights can also be informed of flight cancellation with 3 to 7 days before the scheduled departure time, so far as such passengers are offered a re-routing, a re-routing that allows not more than 2 hours earlier departure from the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight and to reach final destination within not more than 4 hours from the earlier scheduled arrival time of the cancelled flight.  Also, passengers of international flights can be informed within less than 7 days before the departure time, so far as they are offered a re-routing, a re-routing that allows not more than 1 hour earlier departure from the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight and to reach the final destination within less than 2 hours from the earlier scheduled arrival time of the cancelled flight.  The care mentioned above to be offered by the airline, are; free refreshment including water, soft drinks, confectionaries or snacks; a free meal, a free hotel accommodation, free transportation between the hotel and the airport, free two telephone calls, SMS or e-mails.

Conclusion: 

By the doctrine of “All are for cancelled flights but not all are for Compensation”, although where there is a cancelation of flight, all passengers of the flight suffer the cancellation, not all passengers of the flight are entitled to compensation for the cancellation. Entitlement to compensation is tied to several conditions, including; possession of confirmed booking, possession of regular tickets, time of communication of cancellation of flight by the airline and the reason of the cancellation, among other things. The last condition (the reason for the cancellation) seems to be the easiest escape route for airlines to avoid paying compensation. Well, a passenger in claiming for compensation will need an airline to prove that the reason for cancellation is an extraordinary circumstance before such airline can escape payment of compensation. These are why you can’t get compensation for cancelled flights.

Every airline in Nigeria is mandated to inform passengers of their rights. Every airline has an obligation to display a text that urges passengers to request for details of their rights and to demand for a written statement of rights. The text must read; “If you are denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least one hour, ask the airline officials for a written statement of your rights, particularly with regard to compensation and assistance.”

Airlines are often big corporations but in the eyes of law, there are like any other business that can sue and be sued. Where there is a violation of right or breach of any law, the concerned airline can be sued in court. The appropriate court to handle cases of airlines, matters of passenger compensation and related matters is the Federal High Court.

There are also, available administrative mechanisms within the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (via its, Consumer Protection Directorate) that can be employed to seek justice for unpaid compensations. Above all, nothing stops a passenger from approaching a court to seek justice against any airline. It is a constitutional right of any passenger!

My authorities, are:

1. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 16 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
2. Sections 1, 2, 27, 30, 31, 54, 61, 63, 71, 78 and 79 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006.
3. Sections 19.1, 19.2, 19.7, 19.8, 19.9, 19.10, 19.13, 19.14, 19.16 and 19.20 of the Consumer Protection Regulations of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015. Accessible for free via https://ncaa.gov.ng/media/aubd0slk/ncaa-regulations-2015.pdf
4. Onyekachi Umah, “The Two (2) Rights Of Any Person Whose Local Or International Flight Is Cancelled In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 27 November 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/the-two-2-rights-of-any-person-whose-local-or-international-flight-is-cancelled-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.
5. Onyekachi Umah, “Dangerous Flying” Is An Offence In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 21 September 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/dangerous-flying-is-an-offence-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.

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Feel free to reach the author, ask questions or make inquiries on this topic or any other legal issues via onyekachi.umah@gmail.com or +2348037665878.

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