The acting CEO of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Tiago Pereira, stated that the number of lawsuits filed by consumers dissatisfied with the service provided by airlines is one of the factors contributing to the rise in ticket prices in Brazil.
“Excessive judicialization is one of the causes of the high cost of civil aviation in Brazil,” Pereira declared during a seminar that took place this Tuesday (27), in Brasília, and during which Anac and the Brazilian Magistrates Association (AMB) signed a technical cooperation agreement.
According to ANAC, the objective of the agreement is to reduce litigation in the airline industry, preventing some consumer complaints from becoming lawsuits. In practice, the initiative provides for the exchange of information on the main aviation issues and conflicts between airlines and consumers.
With the information in hand, the National School of Magistracy, which is managed by AMB and mediates the agreement, will hold, in partnership with Anac, seminars, conferences, research and meetings that help to “support magistrates in their decisions”.
“We want to guarantee everyone’s access to justice and protect consumer rights. But we need to confront predatory legal practices in legal cases and combat the actions of websites that buy passengers’ right to sue airlines even when the airline is not responsible. This partnership will help us find solutions to serve everyone,” said the CEO of Anac, in a statement released by the agency.
During the seminar, promoted by ANAC and AMB, the president of the Brazilian Association of Airlines (ABEAR), Jurema Monteiro, participated in a panel on the “impacts of the culture of litigation”, a topic that she classified as “a central issue for the industry”. In defending “fewer barriers”, Jurema stated that, while in the United States, a lawsuit against airlines is filed for every group of 1.25 million passengers, in Brazil, there is one lawsuit for every 227 passengers boarded.
“We are not talking about an isolated incident, but about a phenomenon that Brazil is experiencing and that is a cultural issue,” said Jurema, according to a statement released by Abear itself. According to Jurema, although there are cases in which the consumer is in fact entitled to compensation or indemnification, there are other “complex” cases, such as those that ANAC classifies as “predatory legal practice.”
Consumer protection
Interviewed by Brazil Agency this Thursday (28), the director of the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense, of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Vitor Hugo do Amaral, recognized the increase in judicialization, but considered that, many times, consumers need to resort to Justice because, in the administrative sphere, airlines do not provide satisfactory responses to problems such as flight delays and cancellations or lost luggage, among other issues. For the director, it is necessary to reflect on the diversity of factors that affect this issue.
“When purchasing a ticket, the consumer only wants to travel at the scheduled time, safely, arrive at their destination at the stipulated time and receive their luggage. We do not believe that they purchase the ticket with the prior intention of filing a lawsuit. If, by chance, there is some setback or they suffer some damage, they tend to first seek out the airline responsible. And if the airline is unable to offer, in the administrative sphere, a satisfactory resolution, it is fair that the consumer can file a lawsuit. It will be up to the Judiciary to recognize whether or not there was a violation of rights in the case in question”, commented Vitor Hugo.
The director of the Ministry of Justice argues that litigation in any sector is the result of several factors, such as the increase in ticket prices. “We do need to have a broad debate on litigation in the airline sector, but without condemning it in advance. Nor should we condemn consumers who seek compensation for damages suffered or pass on the burden of the companies’ operations to consumers. On the consumers’ side, what we are discussing is the necessary expansion of communication and customer service channels,” said the director.
Igor Marchetti, a lawyer for the Consumer Defense Institute (Idec), stated that the signing of the agreement is a cause for concern for the organization, which has been monitoring the provision of air transport services for decades. “In recent years, we have noticed an increase in complaints and a weakness in Anac’s actions against companies. That is why we were concerned when we learned of the agreement. Instead of monitoring and questioning companies in cases of poorly provided services, Anac prefers to question passengers who take their complaints to the courts. For us, this is problematic. Also because, obviously, citizens, the vulnerable party in this relationship, were not consulted on the matter,” Marchetti commented, associating part of the disputes in the courts with a “divergence” between the Consumer Defense Code and Anac’s rules that, according to the lawyer, tend to benefit the interests of companies.
“If Anac’s resolutions were in line with the Consumer Protection Code and general laws, we wouldn’t have so many lawsuits. Because since the resolutions say one thing and the legislation says another, companies stick to the resolutions, leaving the injured consumer with the option of resorting to the courts. There may be one or two unjustified cases, but this is far from the rule,” concluded the lawyer.
