This topic is currently discussed in many subforums.
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-03-18-01/
Jennifer Janzen is doing some lobby on behalf of the airlines to force governments to take away the obligation of airlines to offer cash refunds, after an airline had cancelled a flight (We are not talking about a situation where a passenger elects to cancel her ticket):
On the request for flexibility to offer rebooking or vouchers in place of refunds, the Commission specifically rejected that possibility.
...
Faced with a cashflow catastrophe, many airlines can only offer vouchers in lieu of immediate cash refunds for cancelled flights. The Commission must accept that this solution – which many people would regard as reasonable in the current extraordinary circumstances – should be facilitated.
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Given the extraordinary circumstances and financial pressures our airlines are facing, if this is the Commission’s view—then an emergency amendment to Regulation 261 may be needed, and would be welcomed by the sector,
What it boils down to:
IATA wants the EU bodies to remove point 8a) in EC261/2004.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ...4R0261:en:HTML
Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
What it means -> Passenger had bought airline tickets for a good amount of cash. Now the airline cancels a flight. The airline is only obliged to issue a voucher. The airline is not required to refund the ticket with cash.
What are two main disadvantages of vouchers:
1) If an airlines shuts down (bankcruptcy), the voucher is practically worthless.
2) Airline may elect to jack up fare in the future. Hence, you cannot buy the same flight with the vouchers - than the flight that was cancelled.
Sorry, in my eyes this is an outrageous behaviour of the airlines.
What is more troublesome -> IATA is putting pressure on EU member states and the EU commission to pass an emergency amendment to EC261/2004
that retroactively changes the law. That means, you or your lawyer are sueing an airline for a full refund (after the airline cancelled the flight). Based on the current law (EC261/2004), that is an easy win in a court of law. However, with a retroactive change in the law, you may loose the case (and are on the hook for the lawyers fees of the airline)
In the meantime, we also expect member states in the European Council to come to an agreement on the review of the Regulation before the summer,” Reynaert added.