The interim chief financial officer of insolvent Lynx Air (Calgary) has told a Canadian court that the US firm that handled the airline's bookings is refusing to assist with processing passenger refunds. In an April 9 filing, Michael Woodward told the Court of Kings Bench of Alberta that Sabre Corporation's lack of cooperation meant creditors would receive less money back.
"The applicants’ [Lynx Air] intention was to complete customer refunds directly without the need for customers to contact their credit card providers to submit chargebacks," the filing said. "Unfortunately, Sabre Corporation [the provider of air booking services] has refused to assist with customer refunds, leaving the applicants no other choice but to work with Elevon Canada Company [the applicants’ credit card processor] to process chargebacks for affected customers. The chargeback process is expensive, and this will therefore result in significant chargeback fees to the applicants, to the detriment of their stakeholders."
Lynx Air ceased operations in late February and shortly after that filed for bankruptcy protection. The airline said that increases in jet fuel prices, Covid-19-related falls in passenger demand, and the 2019 B737 MAX grounding had impacted its ability to do business and generate revenue. It later emerged that Lynx owed its 25% shareholder Indigo Partners approximately CAD124.3 million Canadian dollars (USD90 million).
ch-aviation has contacted Sabre Corporation for comment.
