Bulletin 15 from Michael Edwards, Managing Director
1 - Introduction
2 - Refunds (flights, BSPLink, Groups) - current status
3 - We Are With You - Market Leading Technology
4 - Airline Policy & News
Never did I imagine we would be in mid-October, facing new lockdowns and the likelihood of travel being further decimated for months to come - but this is the reality. The new Job Support Scheme lacks teeth for our industry and as there appears no government appetite for sector support, it is going to be a grim winter.
It is clear we all have our challenges. Having spoken to many of you, it is dark times and it's clear we all have to think differently and find new ways of working together for everyone’s benefit. Sadly, in these most difficult of times this is a must rather than a choice for many. I am hoping due to our particular position, the Travel Innovation Group can invigorate a debate with our tour operator partners to see how – together – we can find new ways to save costs, become more efficient and create revenue. In the next few days, I will follow up with further thoughts and communicate accordingly.
Here at the Travel Innovation Group, we have been restructuring (which sadly has led to a number of redundancies) and maximising efficiencies to ensure we are able to continue to provide you, our customers, with legendary service. That said, please give the team some understanding as we adjust to the new structures, whilst continuing to action refunds and updating you as schedules, flight cancellations, airline policies, etc. unfold. As always we will keep you updated on matters and assure you at the heart of what we do is that We Are With You.
On an encouraging note, many of the airlines that held back refunds have now allowed us to make the claims through the normal GDS channel. This means we have now transacted the back log of refund claims for Emirates, Virgin and Etihad. This current refund cycle’s total value is circa £1.6million, therefore we are working as hard as ever to get these to you by 2 November.
I am also pleased to share more positive news around our technology developments – built to help you and enhance your experience of working with us (section 3) and some airline updates including more flexible policies from key partners in section 4.
To read bulletin 15 in full please click here