Eleven U.S. airlines gave $12.84 billion in cash refunds to customers in 2020 as the Covid pandemic overturned the travel industry, the head of industry trade group Airlines for America said in a letter to legislators on Friday.
Airlines have confronted a reaction from travelers and a few officials over their handling of refunds for flights cancelled during the pandemic.
Recently, Senator Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal counseled airlines to refund cash to customers whether flights were cancelled by the airline or passenger.
Nicholas Calio, A4A CEO, recognized that numerous airlines urged customers to acknowledge vouchers for future travel rather than cash, however said it was not laced with “ill intent” but instead to forestall potential insolvency presentations.
“The realities unmistakably show that U.S. airlines have kept an ardent obligation to the flying public throughout the period of the pandemic and regularly issued refunds in accordance with federal government laws and guidelines,” Calio wrote in a letter to the two lawmakers.
Calio said the cash refunds, which represented about 20% of airline incomes a year ago, was more than billions of dollars of travel credits that are currently being utilized “at a quick clasp” to book new flights.
The redemption of vouchers presently represents 10% to 15% of airlines’’ monthly ticket deals and is expected to increase in coming months as the pandemic breezes down and markets and settings re-open, Calio said in the letter.
A forecast surge in summer recreational travel as more Americans become vaccinated against the Covid is expected to help airlines get back to positive income after record misfortunes last year.
