Aviation ADR queries (RyanAir cancelled flight, EU 261 compensation)
ffets
Forumite 
Hi all.
Context
On 11 July 2022 my flight from Kraków to Edinburgh was cancelled 20 minutes before departure. I was travelling with two family members. We applied for the EU 261 compensation with RyanAir and we expected to receive 400 euros each. They rejected our requests as they said the flight was cancelled due to strike action of Edinburgh airport handling staff.
I opened a case with Aviation ADR and on Thursday I received an update that RyanAir were going to settle. However, the settlement amount on my case is 400 euros.
On my Aviation ADR case, I have the letters of authority for the other two passengers I was flying with. I don’t know if the settlement amount is per person (so 400 euros x 3) or if it is one single payment of 400 euros for myself.
The update also says to “Please find the Settlement under the 'Defence Files' tab for your review” but for the life of me I cannot find this defence files tab!
I also received this message in my case messaging section:
“The airline has chosen to settle your case, you now have 7 days to accept or reject their settlement. Their settlement can be viewed in the ‘Airline Response’ tab. If you reject the settlement the case will then progress to adjudication, please also provide your comments in ‘Final comments’ tab if you have rejected this case. Please do not reply to this message. Kind Regards AviationADR”
I have left a message on my case asking the question about the settlement total, but the above message does not give me much hope for a response. I tried to call Aviation ADR but their phone lines are closed (the IVR says they are only twice a week but once you call during opening times the message never changes). I also emailed them but received an autoreply saying emails are not picked up and to add messages to your case.
So I would definitely appreciate any help…
To summarise my questions:
1. I have letters of authority of two other passengers on my case. Is the settlement amount from the airline per person or is the settlement amount the total?
2. Where do I find “Defence Files” after the airline settles? Has anyone received a settlement before that they can go into their closed case and point me in the right direction of where “Defence Files” live?
3. How do I get in contact with Aviation ADR? Do they respond to messages on cases? I haven’t had any luck so far and the deadline for my response is looming.
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Replies
Says to look at response from airline. Response says see attatched but no attachment
I've rejected my settlement with my final comment explaining I don't have full details on their settlement offer as there was no further information. They now have 90 days to respond but hopefully it gets picked up quicker, as it seems like such a simple thing to resolve... if only I had been able to speak to a human about ADR.
The 90 days are now up (deadline was 14 February) and I still haven't received a response. I am still unable to contact Aviation ADR and am a bit lost on my next steps. I have raised a complaint with CDRL in hope I can speak to a human being about it and get some updates on my case/timescales/next steps.
Yes I received a determination a couple of weeks ago for a case I raised back in August; very comprehensive explanation and ruling which was ultimately in my favour. It was slightly overdue, I think the original decision date was early January but they notified me ahead of that date that they were dealing with a backlog. I am yet to receive the compensation payment, although as I understand it the airline has 30 days from the date of determination in which to pay - let's see if that actually happens.
Hope that helps and stick with it, it does take quite a while.
Edited to add, after reading the full thread: I also had a message in the portal some months ago stating the airline had submitted a defence, but whatever they submitted wasn't viewable to me in the portal. The ADR determination I received a couple of weeks ago made mention of that fact in their ruling.
Seems like a common issue with the defence not being viewable - hopefully they can sort that out because it would save them a lot of time in the long run.