The German Business Travel Association (VDR) has called for airlines to move from the current credit model where companies and travellers pay when they book a flight to one in which they pay at check-in. The association says the current situation in which there are low travel volumes due to the pandemic is a good time to reboot the system.
“The move away from the current 'credit model', in which travellers bear the risk, towards a 'pay-as-you-check-in' model is one of the core demands of the VDR,” said vice-president Inge Pirner.
“Due to the Covid pandemic, this topic has become even more important for German companies and their business travellers. One of the reasons for the massive impact of the crisis on companies is the model that has been in use for years of operating businesses permanently with customer credit.
“If a large number of cancellations occur due to a crisis, airlines are simply not able to reimburse the money due to the customers. This practice then becomes the accelerator of the crisis.”
The VDR says that payment could be guaranteed via common credit card payment solutions that have been successfully practised in the hotel sector for years and that it offers legal certainty.
“The shutdown of an entire industry that still exists and the impending 'zero start' is a great opportunity to end the customer credit model and to develop a future-proof business model that is fair to customers and travel agents and is crisis-proof,” said Pirner.