Cancellations due to reduced schedules

JonnyRTW

Would the reductions in schedules by airlines that could have gone ahead if they had chosen to still be classed as being cancelled due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances? Surely once things restart this blanket coverage for cancellation should come to an end? My example is my travel company is operating 2 days before my holiday date and 2 days after but the flight in between has been cancelled.  There is no reason the flight / holidays couldn't run except the airline wants to reduce their schedule.

bagand96

JonnyRTW said:

There is no reason the flight / holidays couldn't run except the airline wants to reduce their schedule.

Well the reason they want to reduce their schedule is a complete collapse in demand, and the reason for that is C-19.  

The airlines and tour operators are in a fight for survival, and adding EU261 into the mix would quite probably push some over the edge.  The EU have said that C-19 disruption is extraordinary circumstances.  I've not seen any guidance on a timescale when that will not be the case.  Generally in the industry though the thinking is the Summer 2020 season is a write off, so I would expect schedule changes upto the end of summer would be able to be made without the need for compensation.  Airlines have had time to plan their winter schedules and make changes accordingly so things might get back to something more normal by then.

JonnyRTW

Using this logic then all customers should be able to cancel without penalty too. I appreciate the travel companies are struggling, but so are the customers. It just should be a level playing field. A lot of the reduced scheduling is to reduce supply and increase price and travel firms are using it to cancel holidays that they should really be honouring and then reselling at inflated prices.