Originally Posted by thomsonfly.com
This relatively new EU law on compensation is an absolute disgrace, and is another way in which the airline industry is discriminated against by the bureaucrats in Brussels. I have never recieved compensation or a refund for having to stand-up on a long train journey because the train operator has decided to sell more tickets than seats, nor have I ever recieved a free drink or phone call when my train has been delayed substantially.
Haven't you? "Local" train operators might not give out free drinks, but the long distance operators GNER and Virgin (rail) both give drinks and stuff when there's a delay. GNER in particular are good at putting on taxis to get people home.
The thing with overbooked trains, even if you failed to reserve a seat, you can generally find a tip-up seat in the vestibule, or they sometimes open up first class to standard class peeps, or you can stand for a station or two if necessary until seats clear, or you can get the next train which is probably only 0.5 - 2 hours later. Plus if you book a seat on a train and get a reservation you know you will actually have a seat. Anyway there are lots of ways for passengers to achieve a satisfactory resolution.
Airlines on the other hand have a long history of deliberately screwing their customers by booking more of them than they can possibly carry, so it was about time something was done about it.
You've also still got the likes of Ryanair cancelling flights at the drop of a hat, or rescheduling them to useless times at minimal notice, giving the airline industry in general a bad name.
No, any "discrimination" against airlines is entirely deserved if it forces them to clean up their act.