Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow

A quote the CAA and DFT have taken to heart.

Yet again the CAA and DFT delay addressing the legalised embezzlement of Client money, to the continued detriment of the consumer. A link to the timeline detailing the CAA’s habitual delays since 2021.

Paul Smith and other senior CAA employees are also responsible for the Air Travel Trust accounts being late for the last 7 years in a row. There appears to be no consequences for consistent failure.

The ATOL consultation was triggered by the twin failures of Monarch and Thomas Cook in 2017 and 2019. The concept that Travel Organisers should be held to common financial standards was raised once again. The recent Safe Hands scandal, that hurt so many, is a rare example where a non-travel business misappropriated money – had a travel business done the same thing this would likely have gone unremarked.

Once the principle of Safeguarding Client money in escrow or trust is adopted (which still appears to be the plan) the reform is relatively simple. Trailfinders is living proof of concept, as all Client money is held in trust until travel is complete: A simple, moral and very profitable way to operate and De Minimis risk.

It remains to be seen whether the Secretary of State for Transport will take action to address this culture of inertia.