Passengers’ Rights Ombudsman at the Civil Aviation Authority

On April 1, 2019 the amended Act Aviation Law will enter into force which creates the possibility of resolving disputes with passengers arising from Regulations: 261/2004/EC and 2111/2005/EC in an amicable way. The Passengers' Rights Ombudsman has been appointed by the President of the Civil Aviation Authority to consider passengers’ complaints in the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) mode, i.e. out-of-court consumer dispute resolution. 

The participation in ADR proceedings is voluntary and depends on a consumer’s and entrepreneur’s will. However, I would like to encourage you to use this method of dispute resolution.

At the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the obligations of entrepreneurs arising from the above regulations.

If the entrepreneur is willing to use the out-of-court dispute resolution system - he informs consumers about the authorised entity which is competent for them (in the case of airlines the Passengers’ Rights Ombudsman at the Civil Aviation Authority will be one of such entities). Such information should be understandable and easily accessible on the website and in standards agreements if they are used by the entrepreneur. It should contain at least the website address of the authorised entity.

If  the entrepreneur does not accept the consumer’s complaint, he is obliged to provide the consumer with the following information in writing or using another durable medium (e.g. USB or CD/DVD):

If the entrepreneur conducts the activity via the Internet, he provides the address of the website of the ODR Internet platform available at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.show&lng=PL. This obligation exists even when the entrepreneur does not consent to out-of-court dispute resolution.