Watchdog renews call for consumer protection
October 21, 2008The Air Transport Users Council (AUC) has written to Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, urging him to improve financial protection for scheduled airline passengers.
Under new proposals drafted by the passenger watchdog, scheduled carriers would guarantee compensation for bankruptcies in the same way that tour operators are required to.
The industry group is making the call in the wake of a raft of recent airline failures, particularly the collapse of XL which left tens of thousands of holidaymakers out of pocket.
AUC chairman Tina Tietjen alluded to regulations in the tour operator industry, where agents must contribute a £1 levy per passenger towards the ATOL protection scheme.
He wrote: "The AUC's previous position in respect of scheduled airline failure has been that protection should be provided via a flat fee levy on all passengers paid into a common fund.
"We continue to hold this view and urge the government to give detailed consideration to extending financial protection for air passengers, to include the failure of scheduled airlines."
The Air Travel Insolvency Protection Advisory Committee also recently said more must be done to safeguard passengers from airline bankruptcies.
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