WE refer to the article in The Malaysian Insight on May 14 under the heading, “Malindo’s mad way of dealing with Covid-19”. The article refers to refunds issued in the form of travel vouchers and that the voucher travel validity was for six months expiring on November 27.

We wish to clarify that the industry regulator, Mavcom has put out a Covid-19 FAQs, which clearly addresses the issues raised by the passenger concerned. The FAQs state among others that the manner of refund is subject to the airline’s terms and conditions and also makes specific reference to Malindo Air’s terms and conditionsAccordingly, the passenger was offered travel vouchers.

As regards to the assertion that the voucher issued to him had a redemption period of six months expiring on November 27, we wish to clarify that clause No.2 in our travel voucher clearly states “Redemption of the voucher must be within 06 months of voucher issuance date. Travel date is based on seat inventory range of 11 months ahead of redemption date”. Assuming therefore that the passenger redeems his voucher on November 15, the travel period permitted is until October 15, 2021 and not November 27 as otherwise being stated by him. Malindo Air is also adding further flexibility to the conditions of use by allowing the vouchers to be transferred to family and friends. This additional feature is being finalised and all voucher holders will be notified of the details soon.

Under normal operations, Mavcom requires airlines to complete the refund process within 30 days. On April 8, Mavcom issued a statement granting some leeway with an additional 30 days in the timeline for airlines to complete the refund process in view of the unprecedented volume of refunds and emails arising from the Covid-19 crisis. In spite of the operational constraints, we have nevertheless been able to process his refunds within Mavcom’s revised timeline. Here’s a summary as to the timelines with which we dealt with his request:

March 20 - passenger enquired through social media about the refund. We advised that the terms and conditions will apply. There was no mention of a refund in the form of cash.

March 21 - passenger submitted his refund request via our online channel.    

April 7 - passenger enquired about the status of his refund via email. 

April 8 - Malindo Air replied via email that his refund was being processed.

May 12 - passenger enquired again; Malindo Air replied that it was being processed.

May 13 - Malindo Air completed the process and sent the travel voucher for one of the two bookings. Passenger had also called our call centre on this date and the staff provided the relevant information in accordance with the terms and conditions.

The voucher for his second booking will be out in a day or two. Disappointingly however, we have had to endure filthy language in all his email exchange with our customer care team. The call recordings also clearly show him abusing a female member of our staff with vulgar language, which in our view is totally unacceptable and uncalled for. – May 15, 2020.

* Siva Kannan is Malindo Air legal and human resources director.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.