Eliminating Airline 'No-Show Clauses' in the EU
(2015)
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- Authors
- Abstract
- The following paper, prepared by the HEC-NYU EU Public Interest Clinic for BEUC (the European consumers organization), advocates for the elimination of so-called “no-show clauses” throughout the European Union. No-show clauses operate by permitting airlines to cancel reservations of passengers who have missed either: (a) the first leg of a multi-leg itinerary; or (b) the outbound flight of a round-trip itinerary. These controversial no-show clauses have long been a staple of sales contracts for airline tickets, despite long-standing objections from various stakeholders and, increasingly, from national courts in the European Union. Although the European Commission has issued a proposal to (partially) ban no-show clauses, which was supported and even reinforced by the European Parliament, the Council has removed the relevant provision from the legislative proposal. This report, prepared by the NYU EU Regulatory law clinic explores several arguments put forward by different stakeholders, particularly BEUC and the airline industry, regarding the use of the no-show clause in airline contracts. It concludes that no-show clauses constitute unfair terms under existing EU Law. Since they are nonetheless still widely used, it would help consumers if the EU would adopt a specific ban on no-show clauses. The open skies agreement does not prevent the EU from adopting such a ban.
- Affiliations
NYU EU Regulatory Law Clinic
Citations
Boulet, J., Nelson, C., Segin, M., Khadar, L., Sibony, A.-L., & Alemanno, A. (2015). Eliminating Airline ‘No-Show Clauses’ in the EU.