News

Website to help charities benefit from airlines' greed

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 14 Oct 2008

Kent Air Ambulance chief executive David Philpott is launching a campaign that aims to help charities claim the £73m that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic owe back to UK passengers in illegal surcharges.

He has created a website, www.givethatmoneytocharity.co.uk, that contains a template letter that charities can adapt to send to their supporters encouraging them to claim back the charges and pass them on to the charity.

He is planning a national, local and trade press media campaign to alert charities to the site, and hopes that other air ambulance branches will help promote it in their local areas. As well as being CEO of Kent Air Ambulance, Philpott is chair of the Association of Air Ambulance Charities.

Speaking to Charity News Alert, Philpott said he felt compelled to start the campaign after spending so much time trying to convince the US courts to force BA and Virgin Atlantic to hand over any unclaimed monies, to charity.

While the companies must do so in the US – Miracle Flights for Kids will receive any unclaimed cash at the end of December 2012 – there is no such compulsion in the UK, and earlier this year the US courts declined to instigate the requirement here.

Ten per cent of citizens entitled to claim

Although almost one in ten UK citizens are believed to be entitled to make a claim, most are not expected to do so, as the maximum claim per person per flight is £20.

Philpott, keen that the airlines do not profit from passenger inertia, is hoping his campaign will prompt customers owed the monies to spend a few minutes filling out the claim form and then send the refund to a charity.

“There is £73m up for grabs, which if gift aided to charity would amount to around £94m.

“In the credit crunch we are all starting to see people cancelling their direct debits – this is a painless way for charities to engage with their donors. Thousands of good causes could benefit – whether they be a small playgroup or a national charity.”

Anyone who flew long-haul with BA or VirginAtlantic between August 2004 and March 2006 is entitled to make a claim. The airlines have agreed to allocate £59m for US passengers and £73.6m for British ones after they admitted illegally fixing the price of fuel surcharges during the period.

Tweet

Who's Who: Tania Mason