The Air Passenger Bill of Rights was recently approved by the Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Trade and Industry after months of debate with stakeholders.
The Bill of Rights, embodied under DOTC Joint Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2012, was signed by Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo. The regulation takes effect before Christmas, the peak travel season.
The Bill of Rights was crafted mainly to provide passengers an avenue to get back at airlines over the problem of overbooking, refund, delayed flights, lost baggage and misleading advertisement on promos.
The new regulations provide that passengers affected by late flights should be provided by their airlines with free food, drinks, Internet and phone use, and, in extreme circumstances, hotel lodging.
Passengers also have the choice to rebook their tickets without any additional cost. Those affected by overbooking are also entitled to the same benefits.
For lost baggage, passengers would be entitled to a compensation of P2,000 for every day that a bag is missing.
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