Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-02-Speech-3-297"

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"Mr President, this new regulation is – as has been said – very important for passengers. It is very much awaited too, as the fierce competition between companies means the quality of services is still, it has to be said, a cause for considerable criticism. I understand that this is not about over-regulating, but providing a clear framework for dealing with claims and compensation, because passengers are generally ill-informed of their rights in relation to powerful and influential companies, and I support the many speakers who have expressed that point of view. I also know that those same companies are going through a difficult period, particularly since 11 September 2001. However, I would like to ask one or two questions on the problem of refusing boarding. Overbooking is a more correct term, even if it is not very French, because it describes the actual cause, or even the strategy of the companies in some cases, and not just the consequence. But that is a semantic aside. During the plenary debate at first reading, the Commission stated that this overbooking was a marginal phenomenon compared with the general flow of air passengers. I would like to know whether we are really certain of that. The Commission says it has figures close to 250 000 passengers refused in 1999, that is, 1.1 per thousand. I am simply wondering about the reliability of these statistics as they are, I suppose, provided by the companies themselves. The reason I am asking these questions is that I had a problem less than a month ago on a Nice to Brussels flight with SN Brussels Airlines. Without going into details, as this is not the place, there were six of us on the flight – a regular flight – who were overbooked, while my husband and my 7-year old son, who had the same tickets and booked at the same time with the same agency, boarded the plane. One case among 250 000 others, I imagine. That this is a company strategy – and, of course, it is not the only company to do this – was confirmed to me by the ground staff at the airport and by many consumer associations. I am therefore not so certain that this phenomenon is as marginal as that and I can only welcome, like other speakers before me, the increase, in this new regulation, in the protection of passengers’ rights."@en1

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