THE INDONESIA Ticketing Agents Association (ASTINDO) and non-IATA domestic airlines are seeking a better payment system to address cases of airline default.
The move is in response to agents losing deposits when airlines go bankrupt, like in the case of Adam Air in 2008 and Mandala Airlines earlier this year.
ASTINDO chairman, Elly Hutabarat, said: “We are currently working on using credit card deposit payment instead of cash deposit, which is actually an option suggested by an airline company. This way, it will not disrupt agent’s cash flow, while airlines get payment directly from the credit card company as soon as the sales are made. Agents will bear the merchant fee.
“There are still a couple of loopholes we need to fill, like what happens if the airline stops operations after tickets have been issued and paid. We will probably need insurance to cover this.”
Another proposed solution is the use of an escrow account at an appointed bank, agreed upon by both airlines and agents for the agency deposits, so that agents could get their money back in case of airline default.
Elly is expecting that both options would be implemented, giving agents and airlines a choice on what would work better for them.
