The next big thing: automating and digitizing the passenger claims handling on behalf of air carriers—not consumers and passengers. A Frankfurt based startup went live on April 1, 2019 with its service called justclaims.eu.
IATA forecasts that global passenger demand will double until the year 2036. Most likely, air traffic control as well as airport infrastructure will not keep pace with this rapid development.
This will inevitably result in more flight delays and thus claims. With well-informed passengers, the EU Commission as well as claim agencies are on the watch for compensation of up to €600.00 under the EU Passenger Rights regime and increasingly consumer friendly case law. This very jurisprudence is fostering the formation and further emergence of a myriad of claim agencies acting on behalf of delayed passengers.
But this development may come to an end.
With the launch of the online platform www.justclaims.eu, a team of Frankfurt-based aviation attorneys—advocating only the airline industry’s purpose—is tackling the established claim agencies. Whereas a claim agent is demanding up to one third of the collected compensation amount in Airlines commission, the SaaS solution justclaims.eu is aiming at cashing out the full amount to passengers with a justified claim.
“Airlines can regain a lot of loyalty when taking care of a passenger and his or her claim in a timely and satisfying fashion,” says Katja H. Brecke, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the platform. Therefore, justclaims.eu intends to assist the carriers by swiftly registering and handling a claim through automation and digitization. The platform allows for processing an individual claim within only a few minutes, before effecting payment or alternatively rejecting the claim. This should result in enhancing the customer journey and user experience, while that customer’s next ticket is more likely to be bought with the airline that has not left a passenger stranded. Additionally, digitization will bring a significant cost reduction of the claims handling process to air carriers.
“We believe it is about time for a cultural shift and the airline industry stopped funding claim farmers such as flightright, Airhelp, EUclaim and alike, and offered a seamless digital service and customer experience. This includes the booking, ticketing, check-in and eventually filing a complaint if something goes wrong,” states Ulrich Steppler, Managing Director and Co-Founder of justclaims.eu.
For more information on the platform, visit www.justclaims.eu and www.claims-handling.com