Flyers deserve better treatment

Four lawyers in Guangdong province have requested the Civil Aviation Administration of China to ask airlines to give passengers information on the crew before a flight takes off. But more than that, passengers need information on flight delays, which have become common in China, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. Excerpts:

The request to give passengers information on the flight crew was obviously prompted by the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco earlier this month. Airlines are not only obliged to let passengers know who the crew members are, but also to ensure their safety.

But Chinese passengers face another major problem: flight delays. The on-schedule rate of flights in China is at a relatively low level, with two of the major Chinese airports ranked at the bottom among 35 major international airports. Worse, some airlines have come to take flight delays for granted and thus do not even bother to inform passengers about the reason. They seem to ignore the importance of time and do not care much about apologizing to passengers or providing them with the services that an air carrier should in case a flight is delayed.

Although airlines are not the major reason for flight delays, as service providers, they are answerable to passengers.

Perhaps it's time a specific law was promulgated on who should provide information about flight delays and who should be held responsible if such information do not reach passengers in time to avoid chaos at China's airports.