TravTalk India Online Magazine
After completing elections for 10 out of 11 chapters, the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is now getting ready for its national elections which, in all likelihood, will be held in the month of February. On the refunds front, TAFI member agents have started receiving their due, but some airlines are still not issuing full refunds.
Hazel Jain
Sharing an update on the association’s elections, starting with its 11 chapters, Pradip Lulla, Acting President and Vice President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), says, “We have completed 10 chapter elections so far and the last one, which is the Madhya Pradesh chapter election, will be held on February 3, 2021 because of a technical problem of the chairman not being available.As far as the national elections are concerned, we are ironing out certain things on the digital front which is why we have not announced the dates yet. In all likelihood, it will be held around mid-February 2021. We will announce the nominees and the election date soon.”
Refunds from airlines
When asked about refunds, Lulla said, “We have not seen much progress on the refunds front from the airlines. Yes, the refunds are coming in but there are certain African airlines which are not paying refunds at all – like Ethiopian and Kenyan. Hopefully, we will see them come in after March 31, 2021 since the SC order says that refunds pending after March 31, 2021 should either be refunded to the passengers or to the agents directly. Or the shells should be transferred to agents who have issued the tickets on behalf of the passengers. The airlines will have to honour that court order. So there has been progress and some airlines that were paying slowly have started processing refunds.” He added that refunds for all new bookings made on bubble flights are coming in immediately on the IATA settlement.
Jet Airways revival
While a final decision on reviving Jet Airways could come this month, Lulla feels that the airline will not be able to restart so soon because there will be some court cases over and above the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)hearing. He adds, “The NCLT decision has come and it very clearly says that the committee of creditors, which are basically the banks, will get a stake in the new entity.
“The others, like travel agents, have still not been paid. They will be receiving eight per cent or eight paisa in a rupee. The Jet Airways staff has also moved the court for their salaries that are still due. So there is bound to be some delay in its revival.”
He adds that as an association, TAFI doesn’t have any locus standi in terms of filing a case as an association because it is an airline which has gone out of service. “Now these would be individual cases so there cannot be a policy decision as far as TAFI goes to get money for its members. I personally don’t think the airline will be able to start from this summer if these appeals come in – there will be a delay. But this is just speculation,” Lulla adds.
Jalan-Kalrock consortium’s plan
As per the resolution plan, Jet Airways intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations. If everything goes as per plan and the consortium receives the NCLT and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by summer of 2021.The revival plan by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium proposes to support tier-II and tier-III cities by creating sub-hubs in such cities.
