US airlines sitting on US$10b owed to consumers for canceled flights, lawmakers say
US airlines are estimated to be sitting on more than US$10b in travel vouchers that should have been cash refunds from canceled flights, a group of senators released Friday. Many US airlines are cancelling between 60% and 80% of their flights, and under federal law passengers on those flights are entitled to full refunds, senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal said. "However, many airlines have been obfuscating this right by offering travel vouchers as the default option, requiring passengers to take burdensome steps to request refunds instead," they said. "The airline industry received its US$50b taxpayer bailout, so the least it can do is offer full refunds--without forcing customers to jump through hoops," said Consumer Reports aviation adviser William McGee. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-04-20/general/us-airlines-sitting-on-us-10b-owed-to-consumers-for-canceled-flights-lawmakers-say
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
US airlines sitting on US$10b owed to consumers for canceled flights, lawmakers say
US airlines are estimated to be sitting on more than US$10b in travel vouchers that should have been cash refunds from canceled flights, a group of senators released Friday. Many US airlines are cancelling between 60% and 80% of their flights, and under federal law passengers on those flights are entitled to full refunds, senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal said. "However, many airlines have been obfuscating this right by offering travel vouchers as the default option, requiring passengers to take burdensome steps to request refunds instead," they said. "The airline industry received its US$50b taxpayer bailout, so the least it can do is offer full refunds--without forcing customers to jump through hoops," said Consumer Reports aviation adviser William McGee. <br/>
