3/30/2020
As is well known, the epidemic caused by COVID-19 became a pandemic and, as a consequence, the brazilian federal government declared a state of public calamity. As a result, a series of impasses and discussions about the most diverse legal relationships emerged and the scenario for airlines and their consumers being no different.
As a result of the difficulties brought about by the crisis, there was an exponential increase in demands before the companies, involving flight cancellations and / or rescheduling, with the instability as a triggering factor, mainly because the companies were urged to reduce the network national airline by approximately 60%, in addition to which many countries, including Brazil, adopted measures such as the closing of borders in order to restrict the movement of people, indefinitely.
To standardize the measures adopted by the airlines in these cases, on march 18th the federal government issued Provisional Measure nº 925/2020, which provides, among other issues, that the airlines have a period of 12 (twelve) months to reimburse consumers for air tickets purchased that were canceled due to the pandemic. To that end, air transport contracts must have been signed by December 31, 2020 and there may be a contractual penalty for cancellation.
In addition, according to the legal text of MP No 925/2020, if the consumer chooses to receive the refund in the form of credit, that is, by rebooking tickets within 12 (twelve) months from the date of the contracted flight, it will be exempt from contractual penalties.
The publication of Provisional Measure No. 925 aims to the unification of the rules applied by airlines operating in the national territory, in addition to reducing the impact of cancellations in this sector, in order to harmonize relations between consumers and airlines areas in order to mitigate the generation of new disputes.
