Flight cancellations skyrocket in January in Brazil, survey shows

Flight cancellations in Brazil skyrocketed in January of this year and exceeded pre-pandemic levels, according to research carried out by AirHelp.

In the first month of 2022, 226,400 passengers were affected by flight cancellations, well above the 144,200 registered in the same month of 2019, the last year before the emergence of Covid-19.

The high happened even with 3 million fewer passengers transported this year compared to the pre-pandemic period.

The survey, which is based on records of scheduled flights, estimates that 6.2 million passengers passed through Brazilian airports in January 2022, while in the same period in 2019 the total volume was 9.2 million.

The research points out that 1 in 27 passengers had a flight canceled in January against 1 in 60 (or three times less) in the same month of 2019.

The numbers are even more expressive when comparing data from January this year with the same month last year. The volume of cancellations grew more than 8 times compared to January 2021, when 27,300 passengers were injured by canceled flights.

The main reasons for the surge in flight cancellations at the beginning of the year was the advance of the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus and the removal of airline employees contaminated by the Covid-19 or Influenza virus.

financial compensation

According to AirHelp, 4.4 million passengers may be entitled to compensation from airlines for delays or cancellations throughout 2021.

This year, 170,000 people are eligible to claim compensation for flight delays or cancellations. In 2021, the number was around 31,000, while in 2019 it was 144,000.

In addition to canceled flights, the research highlights that delays of more than four hours are also a reason for compensation.

To claim compensation, AirHelp reinforces that passengers must be aware of certain conditions. The first is to see if the delay or cancellation actually caused the person suffering, stress or injury.

This can mean compromising some events, such as missing an important medical appointment, canceling a contract, being fired or being away from an event of great emotional importance.

If the passenger has already suffered the so-called “moral damages” and can prove them, he has a good chance of obtaining financial compensation of up to R$ 10,000.

AirHelp points out that the traveler is more likely to get financial compensation if the airline is directly responsible for the flight interruption, technical problems or lack of crew, for example.

Interruption of service due to extreme weather conditions may be used as justification and accepted by the courts as being beyond the airline’s control. However, even in this situation, passengers are still entitled to service and information.

“Among the main reasons why Brazilian passengers do not claim their rights in case of flight problems, we can highlight the lack of knowledge on how to make a complaint, but also the lack of awareness of passengers’ rights”, says Luciano Barreto, director- of AirHelp in Brazil.