BUSINESS NEWS specialist’s annual event in London last week. Ian Taylor reports


Bunce: Lessons to be learnt from failure of Cook


Simon Bunce, Abta head of legal services, launched a robust defence of the CAA’s handling of Thomas Cook’s failure. Bunce told the Travlaw event


audience: “We’ve not seen a failure like this before. We’ve seen failures by tour operators, by agents, by airlines. We haven’t seen anything like this. We haven’t seen an Atol- accredited body go bust before.” The Freedom Travel Group


of agents was part of the Thomas Cook Group and a CAA-recognised Accredited Body. Bunce said: “Certainly, there are


lessons to be learnt from the failure, but all this happened overnight.” Journalist Simon Calder


Kelly Cookes, Simon Bunce, Matt Gatenby and Chris Photi (White Hart Associates)


Flybe deal highlights emissions challenge


The recent deal by the government to keep Flybe flying because of its importance to the UK regions highlights the difficulties government and industry face tackling carbon emissions. The government agreed to review


Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights despite criticism that reducing APD would encourage flying (T


ravel Weekly,


January 23). Abta head of legal services Simon


disagreed, saying: “There are so many questions. Thomas Cook was still taking bookings just before midnight on September 22. I booked a fortnight to Zante not expecting to take it. Should I have been able to buy a holiday just before the company went bust?” Cook went into liquidation on


September 23. Calder added: “I get 27 emails


a day from people saying they’re still waiting [for refunds]. The CAA said it would pay refunds in 60 days. I estimate 30,000 holidays have still to be refunded. Customers who booked with Thomas Cook through Expedia or Virgin Holidays were told their holiday was ‘toast’, then told their plane had taken off. The CAA provided an expectation and then didn’t deliver.”


Bunce said: “Flybe fits with government policy [because of its UK regional services]. But it raises the challenge the industry is going to have around carbon. “If the desire to address climate


change reduces [the number of] people flying, there will be economic consequences for the destinations airlines fly to. That is the challenge we face as an industry.”


Abta defends CAA’s Atol scheme


Abta rejected criticism of the Atol scheme in the wake of Thomas Cook’s collapse despite saying the association would raise the failure to pay third-party agents commission with the CAA (Travel Weekly, January 23). Simon Bunce, Abta head of legal


services, responded to criticism by journalist Simon Calder saying: “The purpose of Atol is to protect consumers [with bookings of] flights [and] accommodation and to bring them home if overseas, and that is what it did. “Consumers did continue their


holidays. Consumers will get their money back. The Atol Regulations did everything they were supposed to do.” He insisted: “Consumer protection


has served the industry well.” Calder told the Travlaw event: “Atol didn’t do what it says on the


travelweekly.co.uk


tin. I got my money [a refund on a holiday booked minutes before Cook ceased trading] in 57 days, but some consumers who claimed from credit cards got their money in three days. “Do we need Atol? Shouldn’t we


just rely on credit cards and Section 75 [of the Consumer Credit Act]?” Bunce dismissed that, saying:


“The Consumer Credit Act would not repatriate people.” Calder also criticised the decision


to repatriate all passengers, arguing: “The government sent a message that there is no need to buy an Atol-protected holiday because [it] will bring everybody home.” Bunce hit back, saying: “The


alternative would be to have check-in staff at airports asking consumers ‘Where’s your Atol Certificate?’ It would be chaos.” He asked: “How should


repatriation be funded in future? This is a conversation that has been going on for years.” The government is committed


to reviewing airline insolvency procedures after commissioning an Airline Insolvency Review following the collapse of Monarch in 2017. The review’s report was published last May. The government has yet to act on the recommendations but has sought industry views in a broader consultation on aviation strategy. However, transport secretary


Grant Shapps said in a written statement in October: “I am determined to bring in a better system for dealing with airline insolvency.” Bunce said: “The government


appears to want the CAA involved. We need to see what comes out of the process. Hopefully, we’ll get further than after the Monarch collapse.”


Simon Calder 30 JANUARY 2020 103


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112