the hassle of refunding canceled flights during the pandemic

At the height of the health crisis, in 2020, air traffic had collapsed. Some travelers have never taken the journey for which they paid. This is the case of Angélique Alleran, who was to go to Australia in April 2020. Her ticket had cost her 630 euros with Air India and cancellation insurance. Two years later, she still hasn’t made the trip, and hasn’t been reimbursed. “The company told me to see with the travel agency, and the travel agency to see with the company”she says.

She denounces abusive practices. “Once, when I connected, it was as if I had never been a customer with them, I no longer saw my reservation number”, she explains. Airlines have an obligation to reimburse canceled flights. The law is not always applied, and the local courts are overwhelmed by appeals from travellers. Since the Covid-19 crisis, Maître Joyce Pitcher, of the firm Pitcher Avocat, has defended 8,000 cases of this type. She believes that airlines “attempt to discourage passengers by not responding [ou] by imposing assets”.