Hindriks mainly travels by bicycle to get from A to B. Nevertheless, passenger rights caught her attention when a volcano erupted in Iceland in 2010 and air traffic came to a standstill. Stranded passengers were able to stay in hotels for a week at the airline's expense. “I found it remarkable that European rules provide such good care, and that it did not even matter how much your ticket had cost.” In her thesis, Hindriks examined passenger rights for bus, train, boat, or plane travel and found a ‘patchwork of rules’ that is difficult to understand.

Do air passengers have the best rights?

'That's what I initially thought. But what is striking is that, as an air passenger, you cannot opt for an alternative means of transport in the event of a delay before departure. Sometimes you have to wait 7 hours at the airport without being able to claim an earlier flight. Airlines are encouraged to assist you, as you are entitled to compensation if you ultimately arrive 3 hours later than planned. The amount of compensation is fixed in advance and depends on the flight distance. This means that the regulation deviates from contract law, where you must prove damage to receive compensation. Because the fixed amount is higher for longer trips, the European legislator assumes that arriving late when flying from Amsterdam to Tokyo is worse than arriving late from Amsterdam to London. But you could also argue that the opposite is true: that you suffer more inconvenience if you lose time on a short city trip to London.’

What are the differences in compensation for delays between trains, boats, buses and planes?

‘There are huge differences in the so-called “standardised compensation thresholds” for delays. In aviation, you are entitled to compensation after a delay of 3 hours, and you receive a fixed amount. For trains, there is a much lower threshold of 60 minutes. Boats have different rules: they compare the duration of the delay with the total travel time. So, on a short journey, you are entitled to compensation after just 1 hour of delay, while on a very long journey, only after a delay of 6 hours or more. The amount of compensation for trains and boats depends on the ticket price, whereas for planes, only the length of the journey is considered. In short, it is a maze of rules. When you think back on this conversation, you will probably struggle to recall exactly what the differences are for each mode of transport.’

What about compensation for delayed bus journeys?

‘For buses, there is no financial compensation scheme for delays at all. This is particularly problematic because bus passengers generally have lower incomes and levels of education. These passengers are particularly vulnerable. Yet they are not entitled to compensation, unlike someone flying to Tokyo.’

What explains the inequality in European passenger rights?

‘I think there are such large differences because each sector has its own set of rules. In the EU, different sectors lobby in different ways. But that does not make it acceptable. You should not see such disparities reflected in passenger rights. You cannot convince me that bus passengers do not deserve compensation when their journey is disrupted. These passengers also enter a transport contract but are treated very differently by European legislators. From a sustainability perspective, it is also strange that an environmentally friendly mode of transport, such as the bus, does not offer the same protection.'

How can you determine your rights as a passenger?

'There have been campaigns in Europe to inform passengers about their rights. At Schiphol Airport, there are even signs explaining travel protection. The information provided has improved. In fact, you should receive it directly from your carrier when something goes wrong. But having rights does not mean that they are automatically respected. This is certainly not always the case with airlines, which often invoke force majeure. Most people then just let it go.’

How can European policy on passenger rights be made fairer?

'Ultimately, information about passenger rights could be improved, but the biggest problem is the lack of coherence. Passenger protection is meant to ensure a high level of protection, but incoherent policy undermines that aim. With a coherent framework, passengers would have a clearer understanding of where they stand and what they are entitled to. That does not mean that the policy must be the same for every mode of transport. It is, of course, more difficult to retrieve luggage from a plane than from a bus when arranging replacement transport. But the underlying principles should be fundamentally comparable.'