bostontraveler

Looking at CDG to JFK and BOS for the next several weeks, per EF the flights seem to be zeroed out... but not cancelled.

Head over to the AF website and they are apparently selling tickets (though I didn't try to complete a purchase).

Check flight status and most show scheduled per airfrance.com.

I have flights on March 31 and April 12th-- both of which I presume will be cancelled... so what is AF doing?

warakorn

A cancellation triggers EC261/2004 refund protection for the pax.
AF doesnt want to spend cash for refunds.

AF hopes that nervous pax cancel their tickets by themselves. Then the ticket rules govern if anything is refunded or not.
Or pax are pushed to rebook their tickets.

bostontraveler

so basically just wait until 24 hours before is the best course of action....

NickB

They are cancelling most but not every flight. On CDG-JFK, they have been operating one (instead of 4) daily flights in the last few days. On BOS, it is less than one a day.

Goldorak

A significant number of flights must be kept on key routes to carry pax needing to return home.

Yreal

This
and this

Meneer Guggenheimer

Also they will keep flights planned so if they can be executed they will. Also lot�s of flights are flying empty either with freight or also to pick up stranded passengers.

brunos

it is clear that AF will only operate one flight to JFK at most. Mostly used to repatriate pax. But they seem to only cancel three days ahead.
The EC261 tactics is the probable explanation. Cargo could be another reason (flight operating without pax), but that does not seem to be the case.
Bostontraveller, my suggestion is that you wait until 27 March when they cancel if they follow the current policy. But they might cancel earlier. By the end of the month, I doubt very much that there will be any pax left stranded.

Upgravy

Is Delta doing the same with domestic routes too? DL675 DTW-SJC has ZERO available seats on most Saturdays (April 4, April 11, April 18) then just a single one (1) full-fare F seat (Apr 25, May 2, May 9)

Since EC261 doesn't apply, why would DL do this?

brunos

I can't talk for the US situation or DL.
But situations are hardly comparable as of today. Travel restrictions prevent most longhaul travel. Even regional European travel is getting difficult with confinement in many countries.
For domestic USA, airlines are still assessing if they should maintain some domestic flights in April and beyond.
As far as I can see, DL675 is CURRENYLY stil widely available in March. But it is cancelled (not zeroed) on 4 April, 7, 8, 11 etc. More cancellations could happen and May is very long term.

NOLAnwGOLD

I was looking at my April 7 flights from LAX-CDG, so if I try to buy that route, only KLM and DL operated flights are for sale, but AF, but it's certainly not cancelled yet. If I could just exchange my purchase J seats for another date without a fare increase (we got a good deal) I would just do that. But since it seems J seats are $1600 more per person than what I paid (x2 pax) than I want my money back.

NickB

There seems to be an assumption here that the only reason why airlines have an obligation to reimburse your ticket when the flight is cancelled is Regulation 261/2004. That simply is not the case. As a rule, where the airline does not perform the contract, they have to return your money (and possibly pay damages in some circumstances) by ordinary application of contract law and/or local consumer protection law. In some cases, airlines to include provisions in the contract that place limits/conditions in their terms of carriage to their refunding a ticket and in some jurisdictions where there is no or very weak consumer protection law, these clauses may well be valid; there are also situations where, in some jurisdictions, the law on frustration (i.e. on the unenforceability of contracts in case of force majeure) may also produce similar effects but this should not be assumed to be a universal or even a predominant situation. The default would tend to be rather the reverse, namely an obligation on the airline to return monies already paid in case it refuses or is unable to perform the contract.

B0gdan

EC261 no longer applies in case of pandemic, as ruled by the EU. So EC261 is not a likely reason (anymore).

NickB

This is wholly incorrect. The Regulation has not been withdrawn or suspended. It continues to apply.

B0gdan

It's not withdrawn and I didn't say that - it just doesn't apply. This is extraordinary circumstance, just as in the case of weather disruptions.