Like many airlines, Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) has canceled a large percentage of its flights because of the decline in travel brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the complaint for this class action alleges that PAL has refused to give customers refunds for their tickets on the flights it canceled, against the terms in its Contract of Carriage.
The class for this action is all persons in the US who bought tickets to travel on a PAL flight scheduled to operate to, from, or within the US, whose flights were canceled or were subject to a significant schedule change and not refunded.
On December 17, 2019, the plaintiff in this case, Gemnaika Flores, bought two roundtrip tickets for use on April 22, 2020, traveling from San Francisco to Manila.
On April 5, 2020 PAL canceled the flights. At first, Flores tried to get a voucher. However, she realized that she would not be able to travel during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, so she asked PAL for a refund. On July 30, 2020, she received an e-mail from a PAL representative named Cecelia A. Murillo, saying that her request for a refund had been filed and that she should “allow 3-6 months processing.”
In December, after six months had gone by, Flores e-mailed Murillo, asking about her refund. The complaint quotes Murillo’s reply as saying, “All refunds are being handled by our head office” and asking her to continue to allow additional processing time. The complaint documents other contacts by Flores, through July 2021, none of which resulted in the promised refund.
The complaint alleges that, in failing to provide a refund, “PAL breached both its Contract of Carriage as well as subsequent representations to its consumers who desperately sought a refund amidst a global pandemic and economic recession.”
In addition, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an Enforcement Notice about refunds for canceled flights during the pandemic. The complaint quotes it as saying that “in the context of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) public health emergency, … U.S. and foreign airlines remain obligated to provide a prompt refund to passengers for flights to, within, or from the United States when the carrier cancels the passenger’s scheduled flight or makes a significant schedule change and the passenger chooses not to accept the alternative offered by the carrier.”
The Notice further says that “[t]he obligation of airlines to provide refunds … does not cease when the flight disruptions are outside of the carrier’s control (e.g., a result of government restrictions).”
The refunds are supposed to be “prompt,” which the DOT defined as “within 7 business days if a passenger paid by credit card, and within 20 days if a passenger paid by cash or check.”
The complaint further reproduces pages from the PAL website where passengers can request refunds, as well as other online postings from customers who have or had similar problems with PAL.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Philippine Airlines Refunds for Covid-19 Cancelations Complaint
July 22, 2021
Like many airlines, Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) has canceled a large percentage of its flights because of the decline in travel brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the complaint for this class action alleges that PAL has refused to give customers refunds for their tickets on the flights it canceled, against the terms in its Contract of Carriage.
Philippine Airlines Refunds for Covid-19 Cancelations ComplaintCase Event History
Philippine Airlines Refunds for Covid-19 Cancelations Complaint
July 22, 2021
Like many airlines, Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) has canceled a large percentage of its flights because of the decline in travel brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the complaint for this class action alleges that PAL has refused to give customers refunds for their tickets on the flights it canceled, against the terms in its Contract of Carriage.
Philippine Airlines Refunds for Covid-19 Cancelations Complaint