Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 22) — The Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives filed a bill proposing a uniform set of guidelines for refund and rebooking of airline tickets in case of prolonged natural disasters or pandemic.
House Bill No. 8556 or the \”Pandemic Airfare Relief Act,\” which was filed last June 21, provides that affected passengers may opt to avail themselves of an outright refund, free rebooking, or deposit to a travel fund.
The lawmakers noted that there is a need to institutionalize measures as current regulations are only based on the guidelines set by airlines themselves.
\”While travel is put on halt, one of the issues that will arise is the procedure of refunding or rebooking tickets, as there is no uniform policy as set by law to give guidance to airlines, especially with the situation that would entail massive flight cancellations such as the one brought by this pandemic,\” the bill read.
Under the bill, no fees shall be charged on passengers when they avail of the refund through payment reversal. The refund can be initiated up to a year after the travel ban is in place.
Passengers can also rebook their tickets for other destinations at any time without additional fees, except for the fare difference.
If passed into law, the measure would also allow passengers to choose either to have their ticket value converted into a travel fund to book another flight, or to avail of any allied services provided by the airline.
The bill also proposes that the travel fund shall not expire and must be enabled for an actual cash refund by the passenger.
Moreover, the bill also seeks the establishment of an inter-agency help desk, which will be spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, that will resolve concerns on refund and rebooking.
CNN Philippines has sought comments from airline companies.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines said it welcomes the proposed measure that will \”further enhance the service recovery processes, industry-wide.\”
\”During the pandemic, we provided rebooking, rerouting, refunding and conversion to travel voucher as options available to passengers in view of inability to travel due to travel restrictions,\” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna in a text message.
\”We remain committed to adhere to the passenger bill of rights and any new measure through legislation that will further enhance the service recovery for all affected passengers,\” she added.
Various local airline companies have been receiving backlash from the public lately due to incidents of alleged overbooking, offloading, and booking glitches.
Companies have attributed the recent flight disruptions to supply chain problems with the manufacturer of engines for their fleets.
