THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has urged airlines to make cash refunds instead of giving credit notes from flight cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Airlines should make cash refunds their top priority and not issue credit notes which may have little or no value should they go insolvent. While they are being bailed out or given loans to resume operations post-pandemic, they must first pay out cash refunds to restore public confidence,” said its vice-president of air transportation Shazli Affuat Ghazali.
He added that it is “a matter of principle” for airlines to honour refunds for services not rendered due to the “current extraordinary circumstances.” He also voiced Matta’s disappointment that the authorities, including the Ministry of Transport (MoT) and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), have remained silent on the matter.
“One of Mavcom’s functions is to provide a mechanism for protection of consumers and the Commission should have stepped forward to announce clearly what measures are in place or will be introduced for customers to get their money back.
“While it is painful enough for individual passengers to wait indefinitely for refunds, the agony is multiplied manifold among travel agents with angry customers constantly behind their back,” said Shazli.
He called for airlines to give full refunds for payments made by passengers and travel agents without applying standard terms and conditions, which would have been applicable during normal times but not in a pandemic.
Airlines should also not differentiate between group bookings for Group Inclusive Tours and individuals travelling as Free Independent Travellers, noting that the same treatment will hasten refunds across the board and aid in recovery post-pandemic.
“What the country needs now is strong and decisive leadership to resolve the issue,” added Shazli, citing an example in the United States where airlines have been warned by their Department of Transportation that passengers should be refunded promptly when their scheduled flights are cancelled or significantly delayed.
“Airlines have long provided such refunds in the aftermath of major but localised disasters, and they should continue with the precedents set in handling this pandemic,” he noted.
He said the MoT should recognise that airlines are but “the first in the long line of supply chains” and that every action they take would have repercussions across the entire tourism industry.
As such, Matta is looking forward to the ministry issuing a directive to airlines that include notifying passengers and travel agents that normal cancellation and rebooking charges do not apply from the time of the Covid-19 outbreak until the end of the pandemic, granting customers the option for a cash refund or available credit that can be used within three years while allowing rebooking within two years from the original date of travel.
The refunds for flight cancellations also have to be made in full, including ancillary fees paid.
“But if refunds due to travel agents are unfairly withheld, affected passengers will not be getting back their money. It could trigger unnecessary lawsuits which do not augur well for the tourism industry,” concluded Shazli. – April 8, 2020
