The summer of 2022 is slowly but surely coming to an end. For many lawyers and judges, however, things are only just beginning, because numerous cases end up in court due to the anti-customer behavior of many airlines. So many that some German district courts are downright overloaded.

Actually, the obligations of the carrier are clearly regulated in the passenger rights regulation. In addition, there are an enormous number of supreme court decisions, so that in most cases it should actually be crystal clear that the airline has to pay compensation, accommodation costs or costs for alternative transportation, for example. However, an enormous number of carriers see it differently, because in many cases they simply do not pay at all and speculate that the passenger will simply give up.

The reasoning behind this is simple: the more passengers you drop for money due to them, the lower the costs. This "trick" is not only used by low-cost airlines, but also by self-proclaimed "premium carriers", who some travelers believe make everything easier "if something goes wrong". But this summer has shown once again that even supposed "premium providers" simply abandon their passengers and then want to avoid compensatory payments and the reimbursement of expenses.

Due to the fact that more and more people are aware of the passenger rights regulation and either have legal protection insurance or turn to commission-based collectors, more and more cases end up in court. Letters from lawyers are also ignored by many airlines or rejected with flimsy excuses. As a result, those affected have to fight in court to ensure that the money to which they are entitled is actually paid out.

This year shows again that the statutory repayment period of seven days is not observed in the case of canceled flights. Some providers automatically issue compulsory vouchers and turn a deaf ear to rejection and requests for payment. Some providers have now also specialized in collecting such funds, so that even more cases end up in court.

Politicians discuss the end of the prepayment practice

The extent of the airlines' misconduct is now so extreme that there is a debate at government level in Germany as to whether the previous prepayment practice should be abolished. Consumer protection organizations have been calling for this for several years, but the debate only really picked up speed this year. Of course, the industry is trying to prevent you from having to pay at the check-in counter. However, the customer-hostile behavior is not taken advantage of in order to take the wind out of the sails of the discussion.

The ARD magazine "Report Mainz" has asked twelve German district courts, which are responsible for important departure points, about the current volume from the aviation sector. It turned out that the district court in Erding was literally inundated with lawsuits against airlines. Around 90 percent of the procedures are said to concern complaints from passengers. In Königs-Wusterhausen, which is responsible for Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, the situation is hardly different: 83 percent of civil cases involve complaints from passengers.

The magazine also reports that the civil courts of first instance have to hear around 100.000 cases a year. The total volume is said to affect about ten percent of all civil cases. In other words: About every tenth hearing before German district courts involves complaints from passengers who have to sue for money from airlines because they do not want to pay or simply ignore all previous efforts.

Bulk business for lawyers

For lawyers, the behavior of the providers is of course a nice extra income. Since the amount in dispute is usually quite low, you don't earn a lot from the individual case. However, the masses do it, because a lawyer told Aviation.Direct that he alone has to deal with at least three cases per week regarding passenger rights and/or ticket refunds that have not been paid. Due to the large number of cases, one earns quite well over the masses.

According to the Mainz report, most lawsuits against airlines are said to have been filed at the Cologne district court. This is not surprising either, because this airport shone with chaos and particularly long waiting times in front of the security checkpoint during the summer holidays in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Frankfurt, it is expected that there will be a veritable wave of lawsuits in the autumn.

The bottom line is that many German district courts are downright overloaded due to the many lawsuits against airlines and this causes delays in other cases. This is also due to the fact that each passenger complaint has to be negotiated individually. According to Flightright, around 50 percent of all cases end up in court because the airlines do not want to pay out of court. It is currently not possible for claims to be pooled per flight and negotiated in a collective procedure.