To gather a series of relevant information related to flight cancellations and delays, and compensation measures for people affected by the company's breaches, Chilean consumer service body SERNAC has summoned the legal representative of the airline Sky Airlines to testify on March 1 at the offices of the audit entity.
El Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC) is the agency of the State of Chile responsible for ensuring the protection of consumer rights established in Law No. 19,496.
On February 14, the National Consumer Service (Sernac) released a report warning about the increase in complaints against the country's main airlines. Specifically, there was a 77% increase in the "flight cancellation or delay" category. In fact, in 2023, 7,694 complaints were received for the aforementioned reason, while in 2022 4,356 were registered.
This management was carried out after evidencing an increase in complaints about cancellations and delays in Sky Airlines' domestic flights, initially identified through multiple publications on the "X" platform and later confirmed by the complaints received on our website.
From January 1 to February 20, 2024, 739 complaints have been registered against Sky airline, reflecting an increase of 61% compared to the same period last year. And if we only focus on the reason for "flight cancellations and delays", this increase is equivalent to 323% compared to the same period in 2023.
From the February 14 report, It should be noted that the more than 50 thousand complaints (between 2022 and 2023) targeted 49 companies, where the three airlines with the largest market share stood out : LATAM, which led with 20,710 complaints (36%), Jetsmart, with 16,899 (29%) and Sky Airlines, with 12,367 (21%).
The Consumer Law allows SERNAC to summon legal representatives, administrators, advisors and employees of companies to testify, in order to gather detailed information on a consumer situation.
This management is in addition to the official letter made by SERNAC to LATAM, Sky Airlines and Jetsmart, with the aim of starting an investigation due to the significant increase in claims due to cancellations and/or suspensions, delays in flight departures, non-compliance with flight schedules or rescheduling, among other matters.
Once the investigation has been conducted, the Service will take the necessary measures to protect the rights of consumers.
The Airlines questioned the Sernac report while Chilean Association of Airlines (Achila) shared a statement, where they pointed out that
"in favor of the rigor of the data and the transparency of the information, so that the real situation of the airline industry is not distorted before public opinion. We urge the authorities to supplement the information in a more rigorous way, so as not to distort the real situation of the airline industry in the eyes of the public."
In addition, they complemented with data provided by the Civil Aeronautics Board (JAC), stating that of the complaints received in 2023
"it decreased by 10% compared to 2022, from 30 thousand in 2022 to 27 thousand in 2023, despite increasing by 22.5% the total number of passengers transported from 20.3 million in 2022 to 24.9 million in 2023".
After the February 14 report by Sernac, Latam reacted with a three-point statement where they referred to the situation.In the first place, they pointed out that
"we question the lack of neatness, seriousness and analysis in the delivery of information on claims to the airline industry."
Then, they stated that
"the report not only omits the significant increase in the number of passengers between 2022 and 2023, as a result of the post-pandemic recovery, but also does not take into account the relative size of each of the aforementioned airlines. This comparison, taken out of context, generates a serious distortion of the information."
In the first place, they pointed out that "we question the lack of neatness, seriousness and analysis in the delivery of information on claims to the airline industry."
Finally, Latam pointed out that ,
"the LATAM group regrets that Sernac has delivered sensitive information in an incomplete and partial manner, generating erroneous interpretations in relation to the quality of the service that the LATAM group provides to its passengers."
