Germany’s justice minister Stefanie Hubig is planning to overhaul the country’s airline passenger mediation process to speed up compensation disputes and reduce pressure on the courts. Under the proposed change, the mediation body would no longer have to prepare a full settlement proposal in every case and could skip that step when an agreement appears unlikely.
The freed-up capacity would be redirected to cases where a settlement is realistically within reach, while consumers would still face no fee for using the procedure. Airlines would remain liable for the full charge even if no mediation proposal is issued, a measure intended to discourage carriers from simply ignoring claims. The reform is aimed at helping more aviation disputes end out of court, at a time when passenger compensation cases continue to generate a heavy volume of litigation in Germany.
The planned adjustment would make the process more flexible for the Bundesamt für Justiz’s aviation mediation channel and the private dispute-resolution system used by some airlines. It also reflects a broader effort to keep compensation claims moving faster after delays, cancellations and other passenger-rights disputes, where lengthy processing has often driven travellers to file lawsuits instead of waiting for mediation.