Convention Special: CAA rules out big changes to ATOLs
The Civil Aviation Authority has ruled out major changes in financial protection because the government does not fully understand the issues.
CAA director Richard Jackson said he did not expect to see anything revolutionary in new regulations that are due out within the next few months.
“Ministers won’t act unless they understand the issues, because they want a good write up in the newspapers and constituencies,” he said.
“There won’t be revolutionary changes in air travel organiser’s licence regulations because the government isn’t well briefed enough on it.
“This is a quick fix and primary legislation is needed for major changes.”
The quick fix is likely to be ‘flight plus’ – a scheme that would cover the booking of a flight plus one other holiday element.
Jackson was on a panel with Thomas Cook director Andy Cooper and Travel Republic managing director Kane Pirie, discussing consumer protection.
Jackson had responded to a comment from On Holiday Group chief executive Steve Endacott, who said he was angry about how long the issue was taking to get sorted out and claimed there was a simple solution.
“Is the Civil Aviation Authority the problem rather than the answer?,” he asked. “It’s brutally simple – people should pay a fee to ensure they can be repatriated in the event of a failure and that could just come from air passenger duty.
“As for the financial risk of losing your money, customers have a choice about whether to be covered or not.”
Go
But Jackson defended the CAA, saying that it had suggested a levy covering all passengers years ago.
Pirie re-iterated his objection to financial protection, saying that people booking through debit and credit cards had safeguards in the event of a company failing.
He said ‘flight plus’ was simply being used to pay off the debt in the Air Travel Trust fund.
“Is that morally right?,” he asked. “Why should agents have to pay off failures from the past?”
By Jeremy Skidmore
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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