Airlines will soon have to pay you back if they cancel or delay your flight

jeffw@lemmy.worldmod to News@lemmy.world – 296 points –
Airlines will soon have to pay you back if they cancel or delay your flight
theverge.com
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Every recent flight delay I've experienced was due to mechanical issues or flight crew availability (scheduled crew was delayed on another flight, available crews had or would exceed mandatory hours limit, etc). As frustrating as these are, I'm not sure I want the decision-makers thinking "Gee, this delay will cost us thousands of dollars. Fuck it, send the flight!". These mechanical checks and crew hour limits are there for a reason. And let's be honest, regulations are only as good as the enforcement. This may not necessarily be a good change for consumers.

If they could get away with bypassing those inspections or regulations, they already would.

I want the decision makers thinking "Gee, this pattern of delays will cost us more than if we hired more workers"

yes. maintaining or tightening safety standards and their associated penalties in conjunction with penalizing delays is probably the best way to do this.

as a non-expert, i am hoping that the investigations into recent safety failures go somewhere positive so that the fears this comment section are bringing up are assuaged. cuz we shouldn’t as citizens be forced to choose between basic consumer rights and safety.

Yea, you're probably right. I guess I was overestimating the Risk-Reward calculation they go through. Like, if it doesn't cost much to be compliant (schedule already accounts for inspections, crews are already on salary) then they would be less willing to risk regulatory consequences. But as soon as it starts to cost them more to do so, compliance becomes "nice to have" and not a standard. Recent incidents suggest they have already been skipping steps, so I concede.