Consumer Agency "Need to Improve Foreign Airlines' Damage Handling Procedures Guidance"

Cases Where Damage Relief Procedures Are Not Proceeding

The number of consumers using foreign airlines is gradually increasing, but responses to related damages have been found to be insufficient.

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 27th that, as a result of investigating whether 46 foreign airlines, which received damage relief applications from January last year to June this year, complied with consumer damage handling procedures, 21 (46%) were found to have difficulty easily confirming the handling procedures on their websites. Among them, the Consumer Agency added that 8 airlines were confirmed not to have accepted consultations as guided or properly responded to damage relief processing.

Under the current Aviation Business Act, air transportation operators are required to establish damage relief procedures and handling plans to protect users, and to make these available on the operator’s website, business offices, or ticket counters. However, among the 46 airlines surveyed, 15 (33%) were found to notify damage relief plans, etc., only in submenus such as legal information. Furthermore, 6 airlines (13%), including Delta Air Lines and Lao Airlines, provided no information on damage relief handling procedures on their websites, making it difficult for consumers to even file complaints when damages occurred, the Consumer Agency explained.

Additionally, among the 46 airlines surveyed, 8 (17%) were found not to accept damage reports through the methods indicated on their websites or to properly follow the response procedures stipulated by the Aviation Business Act. In particular, Garuda Indonesia and China Spring Airlines were unreachable via the provided phone numbers and email addresses, causing difficulties in proceeding with damage relief applications, according to the Consumer Agency. Moreover, Siberia Airlines, AeroMexico, Czech Airlines, and Pan Pacific Airlines were confirmed to have suspended domestic office operations due to discontinuation of domestic flights or bankruptcy of their headquarters, and were also unreachable at their overseas headquarters.

Based on the results of this investigation, the Consumer Agency recommended that airlines clearly display damage handling procedure guidance in easily accessible locations on their websites and comply with the procedures as notified. It also added that 8 airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Myanmar Airways, and Hawaiian Airlines, accepted the improvement recommendations and enhanced the display on their websites.

The Consumer Agency stated, "If damages occur while using foreign airlines and the airline does not properly handle the issue or if there are objections to the results, consumers can request the case to be transferred to the Consumer Agency." They added, "If consumers are guided to apply through overseas headquarters or find it difficult to proceed directly, they can apply for consultation through the International Consumer Portal."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.