T

he Transportation Ministry says it will delay implementing a regulation that would require airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays longer than four hours.

The ministry regulation, No. 77/2011 on airline responsibility, would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2012 because many airlines were not ready, the ministry’s air transportation directorate general spokesman Israful Hayat said on Monday.

“Based on circulation of this regulation after it’s issuance, as well as from input from stakeholders and evaluation by the ministry, we have decided to postpone implementation until the airlines are ready,” he said.

The new regulation was previously scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 8, three months after it was issued on Aug. 8.

Under the regulation, air carriers, charter plane operators and contracted carriers would have to immediately pay each passenger 300,000 (US$35.10) for flight delays longer than four hours.

Airlines will be required to pay passengers Rp 150,000 if they reroute flights to other destinations and be required to give passengers airline tickets or make other arrangements to get the passengers to their original destinations.

The regulation also requires that airlines announce flight cancelations seven days in advance and offer passengers full refunds. If a flight is canceled within seven days of departure, an airline will have to compensate passengers as per the stipulations for flight rerouting.

However, airlines will not be required to pay compensation if the delay is due to bad weather or operational and technical problems such as refuelling delays or a damaged runway.

“A delay in implementation is also needed because there is no insurance consortium that agreed to cooperate in guaranteeing the responsibility of air carriers to the customers,” Israful said.

“The regulation aims to protect customers and to make the airlines more disciplined to promote safety and the smooth running of the airline business,” he said. (nfo)