On Disputes Arising From Flight Delay: Present Situation, Causes And Corresponding Solutions

Flight delay is a worldly tricky problem. With the rapid development of Chinese civil aviation system, this problem in China is becoming more and more severe. In 2004, General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, to decrease flight delays, issued"Directive Proposals on Financial Compensation Caused by Flight Delay". Statistics, however, shows that, with the Proposal, disputes do not decrease by any means. Due to the fact that the Proposal only offers some basic guidelines for criteria and means of compensation and no detailed compensation principles are given, some aviation companies finally tend to lower down their standards of service and sometimes refuse to shoulder liability of compensation. What's worse, without any legal neutral third-part to take the role of mediation and arbitration for such disputes, passengers are inclined to take irrational measures to protect their own interest, thus resulting in an unfavorable recurrence of"no quarrel and no compensation, small quarrel and small compensation, large quarrel and large compensation". These disputes caused by flight delay are inharmonious factors in our modern aviation system. To solve the problem, we need to take measures in the following aspects: Firstly, correct definition of flight delay and the liability agent must be clarified according to the different causes of delays. Secondly, it is of vital importance to establish corresponding arbitrary mechanism, and let a just, professional and authoritive third-part to decide on the compensation liability as quickly as possible. Third, media should play an important role to guide passengers to solve problems in rational ways.