KEY POINTS:
Airlines may face a flood of compensation claims from passengers "bumped" from flights up to two years ago.
Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard has urged passengers delayed by deliberate overbooking to seek payment of up to 10 times their ticket price.
Passengers can take complaints to the Disputes Tribunal if airlines don't pay and have two years to seek recompense through that channel.
Adam Berry, owner-operator of a House of Travel agency in Auckland, said corporate clients had already started asking about the implications.
"Given that greater understanding, I think it will mean there will be more customers looking for compensation," said Mr Berry.
He said that in the past delayed business travellers had tended to call seeking an immediate fix to their problem but more and more would now want compo.
It was not uncommon for leisure travellers to call up in tears after travel was disrupted, said Mr Berry.
Last week several passengers were stranded in Christchurch for hours because of overbooked flights. One was travelling to his grandmother's funeral.
Air NZ said overbooking was a standard aviation industry practice because a "significant percentage" of passengers did not turn up for flights.
It said its "robust compensation programme" complied with consumer regulations but the company would not provide further details.
Herald readers' reports varied from a $6 cafe voucher to a $100 travel voucher.
Qantas said it did not have a policy of overbooking and it complied with all legal obligations, including a customer's right to claim compensation.
It would not give details of compensation or the number of passengers who had been paid out in the past year.
Passenger Graham Saunderson said he had twice been re-routed on international Air New Zealand flights.
"On both trips Air New Zealand re-routed us on the way home to Auckland from Japan," Mr Saunderson said.
"We always check in on time. The first time we were sent home via Christchurch when we had direct Osaka-to-Auckland tickets. The second time we were told by JAL in Rome when we were boarding to go to Tokyo that Air NZ had cancelled our following direct Tokyo-to-Auckland flight and had re-ticketed us to go on a later flight via Sydney."
On his return he wrote to Air NZ requesting an explanation and sought what was really just "a minimal level of compensation. The reply I got was useless. The letter referred to our having been sent via Christchurch, which was nonsense.
"I had already told them we were sent via Sydney - we did the flying and had the tickets - and I was told, in slightly different words, but basically that the original flight was cancelled because the flight needed to be cancelled. I was also told that Air NZ would give no compensation."
International Air Transport Association Asia Pacific corporate communications manager Albert Tjoeng said there were no international guidelines for overbooking and it was up to each airline.
University of Auckland economics professor Tim Hazledine said overbooking was common among overseas airlines, particularly in the United States, but he had not realised it had been adopted by Air NZ.
He said selection and compensation systems were key. "There will be backpackers who don't mind if they leave at 9 o'clock or 11 o'clock and a $100 voucher is great."
Consumers' Institute chief executive David Russell said a monetary loss was needed before passengers could seek compensation. He gave as examples taxi fares, accommodation or the price of missed concerts.
