The UK Department for Transport (DfT) published a report named Beyond the Horizon on April 7, 2018, about its plans for the future of aviation after Brexit. The strategy is set out to “build on the aviation industry’s work to improve the flying experience for passengers at every stage of their journey“. The government has to answer concerns of British passengers of their post-Brexit rights, as no real agreement has been reached yet on aviation between the United Kingdom and the European Union or the United States.

It covers many areas, including a possible enforcement of the Licensing Act of 1964 in airports which would impose alcohol to be served at certain hours like anywhere else. The government already discussed the idea, after numerous complaints were made by airlines of inebriated British passengers.The report also expresses the interest of the DfT into behavioral science in order to "make existing processes more effective" in "detecting, deterring and disrupting" potential threats.

With this report, the DfT states that it would not “lower its standards of [passenger] protection” after Brexit. It would even push for more clarity from companies as to how consumers can claim compensations. According to the DfT, only 40% of passengers are currently satisfied with how companies handle complaints. “The government will consider what means are available to increase claim rates, such as strengthening or clarifying the requirement for airlines to inform passengers affected by disruption that they might be entitled to compensation,“ says the report. The report comes after discussions in Brussels to potentially lower the compensations owed by flight companies after delays.

However, the confusion still reigns about how those indigenous regulations would work with current EU policies. Which set of laws would apply on a European company flight departing from United Kingdom? The report does not add any new information regarding the current ongoing negotiations with the United States and the European Union, only commenting that discussions with third countries were “progressing well”

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US-UK Open Skies agreement could be worse than before Brexit
The first negotiations between the United States and the United Kingdom over an “open skies” agreement are problematic for the latter. Washington offered a standard bilateral agreement that would require the benefiting airlines to be mainly owned by British shareholders, which is not currently the case for British carriers that currently fly transatlantic routes. Such an agreement would make it impossible for British airlines to ‘cross the pond’