To qualify for the chaos of the summer of 2022, Olivier Kervella spoke of “acute cancellation inflammation,” during a round table organized at the Selectour conference held in Athens until November 27, 2022. Either the “epidemic” of cancellation. Sometimes tour operators and agencies had to deal with cancellations a few days before departure, or even the day before.
“It’s a double penalty for executives because many low-cost companies don’t reimburse costs,” explains Olivier Kervella. As we are restricted by the EU travel directives we have to give a full refund. There’s a real hole in the racket, it’s very punishing. »
This problem is not new, but it has grown as the travel sector has recovered. “Companies started canceling flights during Covid, and I found that no one was complaining… So they just kept going in pre-season and back-season, when load factors aren’t so good. I feel it’s part of their business model. A consortium of tour operators ( Seto) with the same note, and points the finger at 5 or 6 companies, all foreign, some European, but not necessarily low cost.
“Now I refuse to sell Volotea”
This is a real headache for tour operators, who stick to hotels and tours, and are with frontline agencies dealing with dissatisfied clients. Karavel / Promovacances remember the “tusnami” of last summer, when 800 cancellations had to be managed, mostly on the D-24. “We have done everything to limit the damage,” explained Alan de Mendonca, President of the Caravelle & Fram Group. Today, most of the employees work in FlexHe remembers. However, the low-cost companies, in which they occupy seats, have a model to “sell directly to customers,” recalls Alan de Mendonca. Hence, refrain from providing assistance over the phone to professionals in this sector. It is up to the agencies and agencies to manage, while the clients are impatient to go on vacation.
In the face of such difficulties, professionals resist little by little. “Now I refuse to sell Volotea,” Lawrence Rano, a consultant at Selectour Alazura Voyages, said in plenary. What prompted the applause of the delegates gathered in the framework of the Cellicor conference.
Activate referrals
Very upset with foreign airlines on the subject of cancellations, Laurent Abitbol, President of Selectour and Marietton, decided to slam his fist on the table. If a flight is canceled on the day of departure, this senior manager of agencies and agencies intends to seek temporary compensation for doubling the plane tickets. He would also be requesting provisional measures under his impetus.
“Now, the joke is over, Laurent Abiteboul gets angry. If the companies don’t pay, we’ll make referrals. It’s justice that decides to enforce the law. I hope it goes as far as banning planes if necessary. Seto will be with us.”
“TOs and Seto are ready to allocate airlines, in the coming months, to seek reimbursement for canceled flights and related costs,” agrees Rene-Marc Chickley, President of Seto.
Block planes?
If the problem of canceled flights without warning subsides with the fall, the profession is preparing for the future. René Marc Chickley adds: “It is a form of yellow card, a warning, that we want to send to companies so that they do not start again in the summer of 2023. We must take collective action in the profession, as we did with biometric passports. We can go further To prevent aircraft, as a last resort. »
At the beginning of July 2022, Sito wrote about this air chaos to the Prime Minister, but this letter remained a dead letter, regretting René Marc Chikli. The head of the French tour operator also recalls that in the United States, The US authorities forced six companies to pay more than $600 million For hundreds of thousands of passengers for canceled or modified flights. For the slowdown, Frontier, Air India, TAP Portugal, AeroMexico, LL and Avianca were fined a total of $7.25 million.
Read also: Olivier Jankovic (ACI Europe): “We are heading towards chaos at airports”
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