EasyJet holidays has issued a letter to travel agents reassuring them that it will be honouring any agent commission for bookings that have been cancelled within 48 hours of departure.
The operator said it will be in touch with individual agent groups about to how this will be managed.
The reassurance came in a letter of apology to the trade following the disruption caused to travel agents’ clients by flight cancellations over half-term.
EasyJet was among several airlines to cancel hundreds of flights over the half-term holiday. After axing 80 flights on Sunday, the airline made further cancellations this week, cutting about 35 flights on Tuesday, with Gatwick airport the worst affected.
The letter to the trade follows chaotic scenes at UK airports and reports of thousands of holidaymakers struggling to get home from abroad.
In it, Paul Bixby, commercial director at easyJet holidays, said: “We will be honouring any agent commission for bookings that have been cancelled within 48 hours of departure, as a result of flight disruption during this period. We will be in touch with the individual agent groups as to how this will be managed.
“Alongside reviewing how we can pre-emptively mitigate the necessity for short term cancellations, we are reviewing the best way to support our trade partners in protecting as many affected bookings as possible and so will be in touch shortly with our trade partners as to how this will work.”
The tour operation has come in for particularly fierce criticism from agents for lack of notice of cancellations and difficulties in getting hold of staff to help clients.
Agents have told Travel Weekly they feel ‘let down’ by the company and are concerned the disruption could affect future bookings amid fears recovery of the aviation sector could take up to 18 months.
Holidaysplease homeworker Ally Streeter, who had clients stuck at Seville airport after their early morning flight home on Saturday was cancelled, said: “I have been really supportive of easyJet holidays and now I am so concerned about my future bookings. This has been such a letdown. I am dreading the summer.”
In the letter, Bixby said: “We’re really sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, especially as some of those impacted were already in resort. We don’t underestimate the disappointment this may have caused for our customers and for you, our partner.
“We never want to cancel or disrupt any customer’s holidays at such short notice and we always investigate all other possibilities before doing so, as we appreciate the concern this causes for customers and the additional work it creates for agents.
“On the rare occasions when customers’ holidays are changed, we will always try to give you as much notice as possible. Unfortunately, the fast-moving situation that has unfolded in recent days has meant that we have not been able to be as proactive as we would normally be.”
He said the Holidays Operations Centre has faced “unprecedented volumes of calls, resulting in longer than normal wait times”.
“We know this is not the standard expected of us, nor is it the standard we set ourselves, and as a priority we are putting measures in place to ensure we have additional resources available for such situations,” he wrote.
The letter outlined the different policies relating to different types of cancellations and timescales.