Air transport and consumer
Consumer rights in air transport have increased over the last decade, but this has been largely due to serious accidents and mishaps caused by airlines, which failed to consider flight safety.
The expansion of air services, the arrival of multiple foreign companies, international events, and the implementation of improvements in airport networks—all of this demands that consumer rights be recognized and regulated in air transport contracts.
However, the duopoly aspect of local companies leaves no room for doubt regarding the lack of respect for the consumer, the main raw material, and therefore the regulatory body (ANAC) needs to quickly and transparently seek common ground.
Starting with the excessively high ticket prices and the lack of complete infrastructure, today we see that companies only have rights and consumers only have duties.
They require more detailed regulation, including withdrawal, cancellation, postponement, review of charges and fees, and, notably, ticket rescheduling. Nowadays, if there is an unforeseen event, unforeseen circumstance, or force majeure, the consumer waits, without being able to endorse the ticket, for more than two months to be reimbursed.
The best alternative would be to have a kind of loyalty card with the company, and points would be accumulated so that if a passenger couldn't board, those points would be automatically credited without any bureaucracy. With this personal, non-transferable card using biometrics, the passenger would have at their disposal any and all techniques to fly in any airspace used by the company.
Consumer rights in air transport have increased over the last decade, but this has been largely due to serious accidents and mishaps caused by airlines, which failed to consider flight safety.
Passengers lack options, and compared to international airlines, flights operated by domestic airlines are expensive and often involve more than the permitted number of stops.
The non-transferability of the ticket is not considered; up to one week before departure, the ticket holder could, by notifying the company, proceed with the endorsement in their name, and the beneficiary would pay the transfer costs, making everything simple and economical.
Delays are also frequent, and cancellations even more so, due to lack of capacity, insufficient number of passengers, and problems with the aircraft, among other reasons, but passengers need to have options from other companies to replace their flights.
It is inconceivable that airports currently under contract, such as Viracopos, do not have international flights, at least to Latin America, considering their increasing use by the interior of the State of São Paulo.
Congonhas, which was once an international airport, could also resume flights to Latin America.
Cumbica Airport is at its breaking point, with over 35 million passengers per year, and an alternative would be to relocate flights to other airports, leaving Guarulhos exclusively for longer international flights, such as to Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania. Furthermore, the snacks served on board, when they exist, leave much to be desired; with other airlines, you pay for a rather unremarkable meal.
Brazil continues to be a country without multimodal transportation connections between airports, railways, and light rail, which is a serious handicap.
Once a consumer protection code is established, the tendency is to prioritize its rules, since the aviation code is outdated and international conventions are not suitable for compensation.
A revolution in the sector is urgently needed, and its urgency is so pressing that the authorities cannot disregard the consumer, the primary and sole agent of the service.