The Federation of Tour Operators has hit out at the government for failing to protect air travellers when airlines go bust.
The FTO says air passengers who do not book their flight as part of a package should be given the same amount of protection from failing carriers as those who do.
In April this year financial steps were taken that meant customers of any failed tour operator would be covered for repatriation and refunds thanks to a £1 per passenger Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing Protection Contributions arrangement.
The FTO and airlines argued that this scheme should be widened to protect all customers of airlines but the government refused to agree to this.
In light of the current uncertainty around airlines’ survival chances as fuel costs rise, economies nosedive and budget carriers compete fiercely, the FTO has now re-issued its call for a fairer playing field between the tour operators and the airlines.
FTO director general Andrew Cooper said: “I suspect one reason why this logical extension of customer protection has been blocked is the lingering legacy of old-style state-owned, national carrier airlines which sowed a mentality of bogus nationalism and the now quite erroneous belief that airlines don’t go bust.
“It is high time that our government and regulator urgently put in place proper protection for citizens and also set tour operators a level runway to ensure fair competition. Stranded families and financially disadvantaged travellers will neither forgive nor forget a government which waited for a major airline collapse before acting.â€
He added: “Events have shown that airline customers badly need comparable protection to customers of tour operators, and in turn tour operators deserve a level playing field to compete fairly with airlines, given the increasingly blurred and irrelevant line between a ‘package’ and separate air and hotel bookings. Indeed research shows that many airline passengers wrongly believe they already enjoy comparable protection to those on packages.â€
The call comes hot on the heels of comments made recently by IATA’s director general Giovanni Bisignani which described airlines as being in uncharted territory. It also follows the recent demise of all-business carrier Silverjet whose customers must now apply as unsecured creditors to the airline’s administrator.
By Dinah Hatch
