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MANILA - The Department of Transportation and Communications expects to issue a bill of rights next month that will prohibit air carriers from bumping-off passengers without their consent.
"The draft of the Bill of Rights for Air Passengers is now ready and we will be calling a hearing this Friday. We expect this process to be completed before the end of the month. We expect two to three hearings maximum, then we will put out the final regulation by August," Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas told reporters on Monday.
Roxas said airlines, the Department of Tourism, consumer groups and Congress will be given copies of the draft Passenger Bill of Rights.
Based on the draft, airlines will be prohibited from bumping off passengers without their consent. "You can only get be bumped off if you will voluntarily and consensually agree," Roxas said.
Passengers will also be allowed to participate in an auction that airlines can use in the event that a customer is involuntarily denied boarding because of over-booking. “This auction system is already being adopted in many countries,” Roxas said.
With this scheme, the airline shall inform passengers ahead of time that overbooked seats have exceeded no-show cases, and shall start offering compensation for passengers willing to give up their seats and to take the next available flight or to defer their flight to the following day.
Roxas said Economic Regulation No. 7, also called the ‘Boarding Priority and Compensation for Denied Boarding, Delayed and Cancelled Flights,’ which took effect on June 5, is only an interim measure pending the issuance of the bill of rights. ER No. 7 provides compensation to bumped-off passengers as well as to those whose flights were cancelled or delayed.
Earlier, the Civil Aeronautics Board junked Resolution 28, which prohibits overbooking, and Resolution 29, which requires airlines to refund and rebook tickets.
The two new rules were supposed to have taken effect on June 15, but were suspended amid the opposition of domestic carriers.
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