Brazil is a leader in lawsuits against airlines, say companies – 07/14/2023 – Market

The increase in lawsuits filed by Brazilian passengers worries airlines. Industry entities point to Brazil as the leader in lawsuits in the world, and say that the issue makes tickets more expensive and blocks the entry of new companies in the Brazilian market. The expense of companies with complaints is close to R$ 1 billion per year.

“Brazil continues to be the largest country in the world in number of lawsuits against the sector [aéreo]more passengers filing complaints than any other country in the world,” says Peter Cerdá, director for the Americas at IATA (International Air Transport Association).

According to Alta (Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association), there are about 80 million lawsuits pending against airlines in Brazil.

The vast majority of these processes are opened by passengers, who complain about problems such as changes, delays and cancellations of flights, lost luggage and undue collection of fees.

According to data from Alta, out of every 100 flights in Brazil, 8 generate a lawsuit. In the US, the rate is 0.01 process every 100 flights.

The lawsuits have also been weighing more on companies’ cash. In 2017, expenses with court convictions related to services provided by Brazilian airlines amounted to BRL 280 million, or 0.8% of total costs, according to data from Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency. In 2021, it was BRL 490 million , or 1.4% of expenses.

In addition, there are expenses with extrajudicial compensation and assistance to passengers. Alta estimates that the total cost related to travelers’ complaints should have been around R$ 1 billion in 2022. Anac has not yet released consolidated data for last year.

“Today we have several ‘low fare’ companies [baixo custo] flying to and from Brazil, but not within Brazil, due to legal uncertainty, caused by the excess of judicial demands and also because the National Congress often tries to reverse norms voted by the regulatory body [Anac]says José Ricardo Botelho, executive director of Alta.

As an example, he cites the case of Flybondi. “In a short time flying here, she started to have more actions against her than in three years flying in Argentina”, exemplifies Botelho. “It is the most aggressive lawsuit on planet Earth. This imposes a very large operational cost on the company.”

In December 2022, Alta signed an agreement with the AMB (Association of Brazilian Magistrates) to research the reasons for the high number of cases and possible solutions to the bottleneck.

Companies complain that judges often extend the punishments and compensations provided for in ANAC rules [veja como elas funcionam ao final do texto]to include indemnities for moral damages, for example, which increases the value of the claims.

The companies also ask for standardization between the decisions: for the same situation, a passenger can receive a very high compensation, while another has the request denied. The issue, however, should only be pacified when the issue reaches higher courts, which will be able to define jurisprudence.

“It is difficult to set parameters for moral damage. If the person has their ticket canceled and misses a wedding, it will generate damage because they will miss a once-in-a-lifetime event. It is different from someone who was traveling for pleasure and had no commitment”, comments Igor Marchetti, lawyer at Idec (Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense).

Marchetti agrees that the wide range of decisions generates legal uncertainty and doubts among consumers, and that there should be more equality. He questions, however, the attitude of airlines to criticize passengers’ search for compensation.

“All suppliers and service providers follow the laws of Brazil, which include moral damages, and nobody says that activities are unfeasible. It seems to me a bit exaggerated. In 2016, we had changes [nas regras da Anac] that mitigated consumer rights, such as the baggage allowance, but the price of tickets did not decrease”, he criticizes.

Henrique Lian, Director of Institutional Relations at Proteste, suggests that airlines need to make their rules clearer. “Each ticket brings a different set of rules on issues such as rebooking. Some companies explain this better than others”, he ponders.

Idec and Proteste recommend that consumers try to resolve issues first directly with companies, then in mediation spaces, such as the website Consumidor.gov.br, of the Ministry of Justice, and that they only seek to file a lawsuit after exhausting other actions. possibilities.

“Processes last an average of a year and a half, and are exhausting from an emotional and financial point of view. You have to prepare documentation, go to court more than once, to get compensation that you could have had amicably”, he comments. Lian.

Another point that has increased the volume of lawsuits against setir is the advance of startups and offices specializing in processes related to problems with flights, which file lawsuits on behalf of the passenger and promise compensation without effort.

“We have seen some ‘lawtechs’ and applications that capture customers of airlines that have had a problem, exercising a kind of advocacy that is somewhat predatory, because it does not favor agreements and mediation”, says Lian, from Proteste.

One of the startups, Resolvii, says it has already compensated 10,000 customers and obtained BRL 50 million in court victories. The average compensation is BRL 5,000 per person, according to the company’s website. In case of victory, the company keeps 35% of the amount obtained.

---

Problems that usually generate lawsuits

• Flight delays and cancellations
• baggage loss
• Lack of airline support in case of problems

What are the air traveler’s rights in Brazil?

Delays and cancellations

• Be informed by the company about changes to the flight, for scheduled reasons, up to 72 hours before departure.
• If the flight is delayed for more than two hours, the passenger is entitled to a food voucher
• If the delay exceeds four hours or the flight is cancelled, the company must offer overnight accommodation (if necessary), full refund or offer transportation in another way, according to the passenger’s choice.

luggage

• Each passenger can carry a carry-on bag of up to 10 kg, but the weight and contents can be reduced if there is a lack of capacity on the aircraft.
• If luggage is lost, the company has up to seven days to return it or compensate the passenger. On international flights, the deadline is 21 days.

What can the passenger do in case of problems?

1. Seek to resolve directly with the airline, by telephone, face-to-face service, email or messages. It is important to keep records of contacts, such as protocols, which serve as evidence.
2. If there is no solution, the next step is to file complaints in mediation channels and entities such as Anac, Procon and the website consumer.gov.br, of the Ministry of Justice.
3. If the impasse persists, you can file a lawsuit, usually in the Special Civil Court. It is common for there to be a conciliation hearing, in which companies offer a settlement. If the consumer does not accept, the case is decided by a judge, who will determine whether or not the airline should compensate the passenger.

Sources: Anac, Idec and Proteste