Aviation ADR queries (RyanAir cancelled flight, EU 261 compensation)

ffets

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.

 

 

NCPparkingticket

Not a lot of help but I am having a similar issue.

Says to look at response from airline. Response says see attatched but no attachment

ffets

NCPparkingticket said:

Not a lot of help but I am having a similar issue.

Says to look at response from airline. Response says see attatched but no attachment

Thanks for your reply but sorry to hear you're in the same situation as me! I did suspect they had forgotten to attach a document but sorry to hear it's apparently common. Very annoying!

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.

ffets

Has anyone received a determination from Aviation ADR within the last month or so?

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.

FreeFallerSaver

ffets said:

Has anyone received a determination from Aviation ADR within the last month or so?

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.

Hi ffets

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.

ffets

FreeFallerSaver said:

ffets said:

Has anyone received a determination from Aviation ADR within the last month or so?

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.

Hi ffets

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.

Huge thanks for your reply - glad to hear that you got a decision in your favour. Good to know that it was after the deadline too - their backlogs must be pretty bad but at least they are getting through them. I have hope! 

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.

ffets

Just an update for anyone who may come across this.

RyanAir chose to settle my case, in my favour, but I've been awaiting payment since 25 February 2023. The claim status on my case has now changed from "Awaiting airline compensation" to "Escalation" but despite that I have no idea what is happening.

I've raised tickets with CDRL to try and get an update but no luck.

ffets

An update for future for anyone who may come across this in the future.

I finally got my EU261 compensation money from RyanAir after they refused to pay following cancellation of a flight. 

The money dropped in my bank before the Aviation ADR case was updated. I don't know if the tickets I raised with CDRL helped or not but I would encourage people to raise tickets at their website CDRL Service Level Support as it seems to have helped me.

Overall time line:

• 11 July 2022 - my flight Krakow to Edinburgh was cancelled 20 mins before boarding.
• July - September 2022 - I tried to get the EU-261 compensation from RyanAir directly but they refused to pay as reason for cancellation was Edinburgh airport handling staff strike action, which is "beyond their control."
• 29 September 2022 - I created case on Aviation ADR.
• 9 November 2022 - RyanAir agreed to settle but there was not enough information for me to understand the settlement offer (they did not fully upload all information). I tried to get in touch with Aviation ADR and RyanAir but nobody could help - there was no way to contact Aviation ADR via phone/email and they weren't answering my queries left on the case.
• 16 November 2022 - I rejected settlement as I wanted further info on what the offer was. The case was then to be reviewed by an adjudicator to produce a final determination.
• 14 February 2023 - Final determination deadline for adjudicator. Deadline passes without update.
• 20 February 2023 - I raised ticket on CDRL asking about deadline passing without decision and what I could do.
• 25 February 2023 - the full settlement offer comes through on the case. I accept and provide my bank details.
• 27 February 2023 - an agent replies to my CDRL ticket advising the matter is now closed as I received the full settlement. Unsure if this is a coincidence or if the agent worked in the background to help me get my settlement offer and then only replied once my query was resolved.
• 12 March 2023 - I received an email from RyanAir saying they couldn't pay me the EU261 compensation as flight was cancelled due to strike action. It seemed like an automated email. I emailed them back asking for further info. No reply.
• 26 March 2023 - I raised second ticket on CDRL asking about the above email, trying to make sense of it.
• 27 March 2023 - Deadline for RyanAir to pay me the compensation.
• 28 March 2023 - Deadline updated to 11 April 2023. I add comment to my second CDRL ticket asking for help.
• 11 April 2023 - Deadline updated to 26 April 2023. I add comment to my second CDRL ticket asking for help.
• 26 April 2023 - No update on deadline. 
• 27 April 2023 - I create third ticket asking how I can get my second ticket picked up (I was anxious it had somehow been missed as my first ticket was picked up quickly).
• 5 May 2023 - I add comment to my second CDRL ticket asking for help as the deadlines kept passing with no payment.
• 13 May 2023 - both my tickets are closed. CDRL agent apologies for my wait and advises they are chasing RyanAir to make payment. 
• 9 June 2023 - money lands in my bank account.
• 12 June 2023 - Aviation ADR updates that compensation has been paid.