Scottish agents have called for airlines’ inclusion in a universal levy to replace Atol financial protection and want the current reform proposals halted.
The Scottish Passenger Agents Association (SPAA) makes the plea in its 20-page response to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) consultation on Atol reform, submitted yesterday.
The SPAA calls for a “completely transparent and comprehensive system of consumer financial protection”.
“We firmly believe there is a better way to solve the longstanding problems with the financial protection system, rather than to pursue the proposed reforms,” the SPAA says.
“A simple customer levy-based system, covering every air-based transaction and collected by all travel providers including airlines, would better meet government’s objectives, and provide absolute fairness, clarity and peace of mind for both provider and consumer.”
SPAA president Brian Potter said: “Having undertaken extensive research and consulted widely with our members and colleagues in the travel community, we have submitted what we believe is sound, pragmatic input to this most important consultation.
“We’ve made it crystal clear to government that we believe in comprehensive consumer financial protection. We’ve re-iterated our support for reform of the current, broken system, and we’ve reasserted our commitment to working pro-actively with whatever new system is forged.
“However, we’ve also made abundantly clear where we think the real solution lies and that is in a universal customer levy on every air-based transaction. Until this option can be fully explored by all interested parties, these Atol reform proposals need to be halted. We’re continuing to work hard toward this end, and the consultation is a major step in the process.”