Comment by J.Skidmore: Government must act on bonding

The recent collapse of Jetmagic, which left 400 people stranded abroad, again highlighted the need for radical changes in the bonding system. A press release from the company announced that anyone who bought tickets with a credit card could claim from the card company. Alternatively, passengers who had travel insurance might be able to claim from their insurer. But if you paid by some other method and either have an unsympathetic insurer or no insurance at all, then your luck’s out. You can join the back of the queue of creditors and you’ll be lucky to get a few pence in the pound. It’s about time the government sorted this mess out once and for all – an across-the-board ?1 a head charge on all flights and packages to replace the current dog’s dinner of a bonding scheme has been suggested. At least it would be clean and simple. I don’t believe for a moment the collapse of Jetmagic is the beginning of the end for no-frills airlines. These carriers are giving the public what they want, even if Ryanair has to put flights up by around ?4 to compensate for a loss of airport subsidy. But we will see more collapses. There are currently 32 start-up airlines in the development stage in the UK alone and something has to give. Unfortunately it will take something much bigger than the Jetmagic collapse to shake this government into action.