As scientists and politicians debate the relationship between carbon emissions and storms such as the one that devastated the US east coast last week, some people in the airline industry are more worried about a different kind of problem.
As with the EU's emissions trading scheme, where battles over jurisdiction have led to cancelled aircraft orders and threats of trade wars, the industry foresees schisms over European rules on how to cope with air passengers stranded by hurricanes and other disruptions.
While travellers who fell victim to hurricane Sandy may have all been facing the same challenges regardless of their country of origin, customers of European airlines had far stronger legal rights - to room and board, for example, if not for compensation for the inconvenience.
And with the protection of passenger rights strengthening in Europe in recent weeks thanks to a ruling by the European Court of Justice, experts see conflict arising over which country's regime applies in an industry that is almost by definition international.
"The industry has always wanted to do things on a global basis," says Michael Burns, an aviation consultant with PwC. "We've seen that on the environmental front, and in terms of passenger rights and compensation we're going to run into the same issue."
05/11/12 moneycontrol.com
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As with the EU's emissions trading scheme, where battles over jurisdiction have led to cancelled aircraft orders and threats of trade wars, the industry foresees schisms over European rules on how to cope with air passengers stranded by hurricanes and other disruptions.
While travellers who fell victim to hurricane Sandy may have all been facing the same challenges regardless of their country of origin, customers of European airlines had far stronger legal rights - to room and board, for example, if not for compensation for the inconvenience.
And with the protection of passenger rights strengthening in Europe in recent weeks thanks to a ruling by the European Court of Justice, experts see conflict arising over which country's regime applies in an industry that is almost by definition international.
"The industry has always wanted to do things on a global basis," says Michael Burns, an aviation consultant with PwC. "We've seen that on the environmental front, and in terms of passenger rights and compensation we're going to run into the same issue."
05/11/12 moneycontrol.com
