Airfare refunds hinge on whether carrier or flyer cancels first

Bloomberg

As Covid-19 cases began exploding last month, Quinton Martins thought he was doing the prudent thing by canceling a flight to Mexico for a planned vacation with his wife and daughter.
But the Northern California man didn’t realise that by doing so he gave up the right to a refund from Alaska Air — even though taking the trip next week would require his family to violate their state’s stay-at-home order and a federal recommendation to avoid foreign travel.
While the US Department of Transportation sternly admonished airlines to refund fares for canceled flights, people such
as the Martins, whose April 15 flight hasn’t been scrapped, aren’t covered. Even the state order that came a few days later doesn’t matter. Most who cancel trips must accept vouchers for future travel.
“They’re happy to take your money, but they’re not happy to help out when things don’t go as they should,” said Martins, who lives in Sonoma County north of San Francisco.
Complaints by disgruntled passengers are one more thing airlines must contend with as losses mount, their stock values plunge and the government finalises an aid package of loans and payroll guarantees worth $50 billion.
Alaska Air is following all US regulations and honouring its contracts with passengers, said spokesman Ray Lane. The airline has taken actions to lessen the impact on customers, such as suspending fees for changes and cancellations, he added.
A trade association of global carriers, the International Air Transport Association, says the embattled airlines might not be able to afford the refunds they’re obligated to pay — which could total $35 billion — let alone what they’d have to pay if people like Martins also got reimbursed. Nevertheless, nine Democratic senators are urging them to provide them to passengers who had to forgo trips as a result of the virus.
“Unfortunately, these travel vouchers do the public little good in this time of emergency, when Americans need money now to pay for basic necessities,” the senators, led by Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, said.
Under laws governing passengers and their rights as consumers, who cancels first can have huge repercussions.
If an airline cancels or significantly delays a flight through its own actions — for example, if it doesn’t make sense to operate the route any more while travel plummets during pandemic — then US law requires the carrier to refund the cost of the ticket and any fees, according to the Transportation Department.