Domestic air transport compensation laws and regulations seriously lag behind social and economic development.
At present, the compensation limit for domestic passengers' casualties is 70,000 yuan (standard set by 1993); If all or part of the passenger's checked baggage is damaged or lost, the compensation amount shall not exceed RMB 50 yuan per kilogram, the maximum declared value of each passenger's baggage is RMB 8,000, and the compensation limit for the passenger's self-care baggage and personal belongings is RMB 2,000 (standard set by 1996); There is no unified national standard for flight delay compensation so far.
Since the implementation of Aviation Law 10, profound changes have taken place in China. From 1993 to 2003, China's GDP increased by 4.35 times, the average wage of urban workers increased by 4.33 times, and the total income of civil aviation industry increased by nearly 6 times. However, the compensation limit of air carriers is still based on the standard of 10 years ago, which leads to a serious conflict between the unchanging law and the great changes in social life.
In domestic air transport, the compensation standard is low, and the compensation terms are unclear and ineffective, which leads to the lack of basis for solving the actual compensation problem.
First of all, there are different standards for air crash claims
Due to the fact that the compensation limit of 70,000 yuan for passenger casualty claims has obviously lagged behind the level of China's economic development, Wuhan Airlines increased the subsidy to 6,543.8+0.25 million yuan in 2000, taking into account the rising prices and other factors. But after all, this is just a workaround. There is no legal basis, which will inevitably lead to the questioning of individual victims' families and their refusal to accept compensation. Regrettably, the Civil Aviation Administration of China did not modify the relevant regulations in the six years after the air crash, which led to the adoption of the above measures in future air crashes. In 2002, the compensation for Dalian air crash increased to190,000 yuan, and in 2004, the compensation for Baotou air crash increased to 2 1. 2 1.
Three air crashes have produced three kinds of compensation amounts, which fully shows that the compensation standards stipulated by the state have failed, which has caused great difficulties and obstacles for airlines to successfully solve the compensation problem and the victims' legitimate claims.
Second, the compensation standard for lost luggage is too low to really compensate for the loss.
According to "China Civil Aviation Passenger Baggage Domestic Transportation Rules", if all or part of the passenger's checked baggage is damaged or lost, the compensation amount shall not exceed RMB 50 yuan per kilogram, the maximum declared value of each passenger's baggage is RMB 8,000, and the compensation limit for the passenger's self-care baggage and personal belongings is RMB 2,000. If each person in economy class checks 20 kilograms for free, most people's luggage compensation will not exceed 1000 yuan according to the per kilogram limit in 50 yuan. Judging from China's current economic development, no one will be satisfied with such a low compensation standard. At present, the value of any passenger's checked baggage by air will not be a simple few hundred dollars, and the value of a suitcase alone is five or six hundred yuan. Obviously, the above compensation standards can no longer really play a role in compensating losses.
Third, there is no effective basis for delay compensation.
Facing the increasing demand of passengers for the right to know, to choose and to claim, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the Guiding Opinions on Economic Compensation for Passengers with Flight Delays Caused by Domestic Airlines in 2004, stipulating that airlines can compensate passengers for flight delays caused by their own reasons. However, the Guiding Opinions did not specify the specific compensation standards, but stipulated that the specific compensation plan and compensation standards should be formulated by the airlines themselves. However, the guidance has been issued for more than a year. Only Shenzhen Airlines issued the Customer Service Guide of Shenzhen Airlines on July 5, 2004 according to the requirements of the Guiding Opinions, which refined the Guiding Opinions of the Civil Aviation Administration and delineated the operating boundaries of compensation and no compensation, compensation for more and less. More airlines remain silent on the guidance.
In addition, compensation is not equal to compensation. Compensation means that as long as passengers prove that they have suffered property losses due to flight delays, airlines have to pay the corresponding amount. Different passengers may get different compensation for the same delayed flight. Compensation means that when there is a big delay, the airline will give all passengers appropriate economic subsidies, which can not completely make up for the losses suffered by passengers.
Because of the above reasons, although the delay rate of China Airlines is not higher than that of foreign airlines, the handling results and disputes caused by aircraft occupation and strikes are far higher than that of any country's aviation industry. The survey results of aviation services in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Sichuan released by China Consumers Association on June 5438+065438+1October 08, 2005 show that as many as 43% consumers are dissatisfied with the remedial measures taken by airlines after flight delays.
There are legal loopholes in the carrier's compensation clause for ground victims.
There are legal loopholes in the provisions of aviation law that the carrier only bears the liability for direct damage to the victims on the ground, which leads to the carrier's delay in fulfilling its obligation to take measures to prevent the damage from expanding, resulting in unnecessary loss expansion and huge waste of resources.
Although Article 157 of the Aviation Law clearly stipulates that victims on the ground should be compensated, the scope of compensation is limited to direct losses, and indirect losses are not compensated. Article 1 17 of China's General Principles of Civil Law stipulates: "If the property of the state or the collective or the property of others is damaged, it shall be restored to its original state or compensated at a discount. If the victim suffers other major losses as a result, the infringer shall also compensate for the losses. " As a special law, aviation law should be applied before the general principles of civil law in jurisprudence. However, the first case of compensation for ground environmental pollution damage caused by air crash-"11.21"Baotou air crash ground environmental damage compensation case shows the legal loopholes in the Aviation Law.
On the first anniversary of the Baotou "1 1.2 1" air crash, the china environmental science Research Institute under the State Environmental Protection Administration made the Investigation Report on the Impact of Baotou "11"air crash on the ecological environment of Nanhai Park and the design of environmental protection scheme. According to the design of the report, the environmental impact, public psychological impact and ecological damage caused by the air crash to Nanhai Park amounted to 65 1.7 million yuan.
Because China Eastern Airlines' compensation for Nanhai Park failed to enter a substantive stage, a whole year after the air crash, Baotou Nanhai Park was still shrouded in the shadow of the air crash, and the lake water pollution in Nanhai Park continued, and the scenic spot was in a mess. So far, there are no tourists, and more than 270 park cadres and workers are unemployed.
The biggest controversy in this case lies in the responsibility of water pollution caused by air crash. After the air crash, jet fuel, engine oil, articles and batteries on the plane caused serious pollution to a small part of the water surface, which belongs to the direct loss stipulated in Article 157 of the Aviation Law and should be compensated. However, should the diffuse pollution caused by the failure to take timely measures be compensated?
The situation that civil aviation authorities set the limit of liability needs to be reformed.
"Aviation Law" authorizes the competent civil aviation authorities in the State Council to set the limit of liability of domestic air carriers, which protects the interests of civil aviation authorities and harms the rights and interests of consumers.
Article 128 of the Aviation Law stipulates that "the limit of liability of domestic air carriers shall be formulated by the competent civil aviation authority of the State Council, and shall be promulgated and implemented after being approved by the State Council." According to the provisions of this article, combined with the spirit of legislation, the Civil Aviation Administration should formulate new compensation limit provisions, which will be implemented after being approved by the State Council. This not only gives CAAC the power, but also stipulates the obligations of CAAC. However, up to now, 10 years have passed, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China has been slow to fulfill the above obligations, or has not formulated relevant regulations, or has not revised and adjusted relevant regulations in time according to the country's economic development. As a result, in practice, the compensation for loss of passengers' luggage can only be applied to the Interim Provisions on Compensation for Personal Injury of Passengers in Domestic Air Transport formulated by the State Council 1993, and the compensation for delay can only be applied to the Rules for Domestic Transport of Passengers and Luggage in China Civil Aviation formulated by CAAC 1996, so far there is no unified national standard.
This inappropriate authorization legislation protects the interests of civil aviation departments and harms the rights and interests of passengers.
To sum up, China's current aviation law has been divorced from social development and cannot effectively solve the practical problems faced by the development of civil aviation industry. With the formal entry into force of the Montreal Convention in China, the provisions of the Aviation Law on compensation standards for international air transport have become invalid. China's General Principles of Civil Law clearly stipulates that if the provisions of international conventions to which China is a party are inconsistent with China's domestic laws, the provisions of international conventions shall apply.
Therefore, the author believes that the relevant units should organize relevant personnel to study the defects of the Aviation Law and the new problems in the aviation industry as soon as possible, amend the provisions of the Aviation Law that lag behind social development, and supplement the missing provisions such as airport safety management and accident handling procedures. Formulate an aviation basic law that is in line with international standards and advanced appropriately, so as to change the current situation that China's air transport compensation legislation is seriously derailed from international standards.