Ryanair blame cancellation on snow to save money

dzug1

Scots wrote: »

yes I have insurance, however there is an excess on the policy of £150 for cancelled trips, ( policy recomended by this website btw).

My hotel wasn't more than this for the week. I have asked Alpharooms to see if I can get any of it back and am still waiting for their reply. They have said they will try.

The thing is compensation is not just about the cost of the holiday it compensates for the loss of the holiday which can be a lot more. I don't know how they work it out. So I am looking for my actual costs back plus some.

Ryanair have already sent back the £174 air fare.

Compensation is a fixed amount set by the EU for flights that are cancelled in non-extraordianary circumstances. It varies with the length of the flight - 250 or 400 euros a head for up to/more than 1500km

Scots

dzug1 wrote: »

Compensation is a fixed amount set by the EU for flights that are cancelled in non-extraordianary circumstances. It varies with the length of the flight - 250 or 400 euros a head for up to/more than 1500km

Thanks for that info.

I wonder if theres anywhere to see examples of when it's been paid out.

2 of us would mean 500 - 800 euros .... not to be sniffed at

dzug1

Scots wrote: »

Thanks for that info.

I wonder if theres anywhere to see examples of when it's been paid out.

2 of us would mean 500 - 800 euros .... not to be sniffed at

It should be paid out if you are denied boarding (ie overbooking) or if a flight is cancelled at short notice.

The airline can get out of paying:


An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

Weather is given as an example of a possible extraordinary circumstance

Scots

Yes but this is what my thread is all about. They are using the weather as an excuse not to fly. It seemed to me and other there at the time that they could have flown if they really wanted to, but instead they didn't.

bagand96

As stated, the EU compensation regulations state what you are due in the event of cancellation.

What you now need to do is lodge a complaint with Ryanair asking for their reasons for cancellation and claiming your compensation. Until you have their response then you can't really do anymore.

However, as other posters have touched on, most of your thread is based on assumptions and speculation. It is not as simplistic as "other flights went so why didn't ours".

There could be many reasons why the flight didn't go... proabably crewing. Just because a crew flew it in, doesn't mean they were able to operate your flight. Canaries and back is a fairly long jaunt crew hours wise, I am not sure, but there is a fair chance if they'd operated other flights they would not legally have had enough hours to operate a return to FUE.

Standby crews, fair enough, the airlines have them, but how do we know if Ryanair crews could make it to the airport or not? And with thw widespread disruption all week, crews may have been all over the place, and may have operated other flights... perhaps leaving no-one to operate yours?

People take a far too simplistic view of air travel, cheap fares and regular services make people think it runs like your local bus service. It doesn't. The airlines are not miracle workers; they cannot conjure up crews, or indeed aircraft, out of thin air.

apt

It's because running an airline is more complex that they need to have standby crews available. If Ryanair's reason is that the crew would be out of hours because of a delay of less than 3 hours then the judge may not regard that as 'extraordinary circumstances', but failing to have adequate alternative arrangements. But the reason might be different and more convincing.

bagand96

It's because running an airline is more complex that they need to have standby crews available. If Ryanair's reason is that the crew would be out of hours because of a delay of less than 3 hours then the judge may not regard that as 'extraordinary circumstances', but failing to have adequate alternative arrangements. But the reason might be different and more convincing.

I'm not arguing that. Under normal circumstances its fair enough, if a 3 hour delay takes crew out of hours then another crew should be found. However the last week has hardly been normal. With the snow, aircraft and crew could have been scattered all over Europe not in the correct places. And those crew near the airport may have been able to get to the airport. Standby crew who could make it in may have been used for alternative flights to cover other crew who couldn't make it in.

Unless we are suggesting that airlines should have one standby crew for every operational crew? And perhaps they should live at the airport terminal to guarantee avalability?

I'm not defending Ryanair, however just trying to illustrate that it is never as simple as "I saw an aircraft depart Edinburgh, so why didn't mine?". And it doesn't matter if thats Ryanair or BA (someone has already pointed hout bmi operated EDI-LHR when BA didn't) This isn't an isolated flight the airline couldn't be bothered to operate, the disruption has been widespread this week and is well documented. Knock on effects are likely.

All this is academic anyway until the OP makes contact with Ryanair asking for the compensation and a definitive reason why the flight didn't go.

richardw

If you have a base at Edinburgh airport, you nominate crew that are near the airport to be standby crew, if airlines don't do this it is their risk of paying compensation.

bagand96

richardw wrote: »

If you have a base at Edinburgh airport, you nominate crew that are near the airport to be standby crew, if airlines don't do this it is their risk of paying compensation.

Of course. You wouldn't have Leeds Bradford based crew doing EDI standbys. The point I am trying to make is over the last week normal operations have gone to pot. But even crew based at Edinburgh may not live in the immediate vicinity of the airport. It'sno different to any employee being unable to get to work in any job due the snow.

Let's say for an example an airline has 3 standby crews (6 pilots) rostered for that base on that afternoon. Let's say they have 10 flights going:

- One crew have been stranded downroute due weather. You've found an aircraft so you call a standby crew.
- One aircraft is running a few hours late meaning its crew have gone out of hours. You call the second standby crew.
- One crew can't get in to operate their duty due weather. You call a standby crew member to keep that flight on track.

You've already used 5 out of 6 standby crew members. And in the last week that scenario is hardly far fetched. You also have to consider pilots hours are incredibly strictly limited. You can't just start ringing round all your crews calling people in. It depends on how many hours they've worked already, and what their roster is for the days following.

Like I said before, I am not defending Ryanair (I am by no means a Ryanair lover). In the ideal world, the airport would open, we'd all celebrate, and all flights would resume with immdediate effect. Unfortunately its not an ideal world. Airlines are not a bottomless pit of aircraft and crew, and this week they've been up against it.

As I said before the OP needs to write to Ryanair and find the official reason for the cancellation.

richardw

This website might be helpful http://flightmole.com