I had heard this snippet too. Firstly, don’t believe everything Mr Calder says or writes. Secondly, if the airlines/ tour operators try to delay refunds, they will run into problems with their credit card accounts. People refused a refund will run to their card provider for a refund, and these providers will hold back funds from the airline. We have seen issues with credit card provisions being the straw that broke the camel’s back on several recent airline failures.
I can see that in future, prepayments on airline tickets will have to be held in some sort of escrow account until the service you have paid for is actually provided. Airlines would be able to borrow against these prepayments, but not draw on them until the flight was complete. With the obvious problems ahead for the industry, I can not see the public or credit card companies willing to lend vast sums, unsecured,for many months ahead of a service being provided.