Any help on this please Easy jet refused compensation due to alleged group of disruptive customers

reecekari

Hi everyone, I got this from Easy Jet, I ended up paying quick time for a new flight (as mine got cancelled) this was first thing in the morning at 06:00 next day as I was not going to waste time on the APP and the notification of cancellation without any reason came through at midnight (finally) by email, my original flight was at 21:00. I was staying with my girlfriend who drove us back and forth, what can I claim for? I paid again for new flight as did not want to waste time and info was scarce needed to get back to London and was concerned there would be a mad rush for the first flight back.
Any help or tips would be most appreciated! I did have a really cheap train back from Luton at £3.50 ended up at Stanstead the next day and having to pay for the express at £20!

Thank you

Reece

Flight Number: 0188
Flight Date: 08/12/2022
Scheduled Departure Airport: Belfast Intl (BFS)
Scheduled Arrival Airport: London Luton (LTN)
Claim decision: Declined

Decision summary: We’re sorry that your flight was cancelled. Our assessment and legal team has carefully reviewed your claim and the circumstances around your flight and have confirmed that your compensation claim is not eligible for compensation payment under the applicable Regulation. Please note that this may not match with the information you were given on the day of travel, as our staff in airports, and on-board, may not have had all the information concerning your cancelled flight.

Dear Anthony,

We are sorry for the disruption to your flight.  Our assessment and legal team have carefully reviewed your claim, including the circumstances around your flight and have confirmed that your compensation claim is not eligible for compensation payment under the Regulation. Please note that this may not match with the information you were given on the day of travel, as our staff in airports, and on-board, may not have had all the information concerning your cancelled flight.

Our assessment of your claim

To further explain what happened on the day; there was a group of disruptive customers on the flight who posed a risk to the welfare of other customers on the flight. As a result of this the decion was made to cancel the flight. We do take reasonable measures to avoid delays and cancellations to our flights by having replacement crews and spare aircraft available in our network. In the circumstances, these options were not possible as the cancellation was as a direct result of concerns for customer welfare.

The Regulation

When we have to disrupt a flight due to circumstances outside of our control, the flight is classified under the regulation as being affected by “extraordinary circumstances”. An example of disruption outside of our control would be that primarily caused by air traffic control restrictions, industrial action, severe weather conditions or a runway closure.

Compensation is only payable when a flight is delayed by 3 or more hours after the scheduled arrival time, or the flight is cancelled and the reason for the delay or cancellation was within our control. This type of disruption is classified the regulation as “non-extraordinary circumstances”. Examples of this include most aircraft technical faults or when we haven’t taken reasonable measures to prevent or minimise disruption.

eskbanker

reecekari said:

I got this from Easy Jet, I ended up paying quick time for a new flight (as mine got cancelled) this was first thing in the morning at 06:00 next day as I was not going to waste time on the APP and the notification of cancellation without any reason came through at midnight (finally) by email, my original flight was at 21:00.

Just to check the sequence of events, are you saying that you were due to fly at 21:00 but that once you were checked in and ready to go (boarded?), the flight was delayed and then eventually cancelled at midnight, after which you directly rebooked your own replacement flight for 06:00 the next day (i.e. six hours after the cancellation notification)?

Unless there's any credible evidence to the contrary (what did you see?) then it does sound like they have justification for asserting that these were extraordinary circumstances outside their control, thereby denying a compensation claim.

However, they're still obliged to fund rerouting, so should pick up the tab for the flight you took, plus the additional train fare.

reecekari

Thank you eskbanker yes that is correct but not boarded. I the delay notification came through much sooner I think it was 19:30 ish I was getting notifications on the app as info was scarce. The email i received confirming my flight was cancelled came through at midnight!! well after the event lol and I was at my Girlfriends then!

I just don't believe them re group of disruptive customers.

I'm trying to get the info from flight tracker on the plane before and after.

I've tried searching the forums re. if anyone else has had such an experience itht Easy Jet using this excuse, but cannot find anything.

Many thanks for the reply

Reece

eskbanker

reecekari said:

I just don't believe them re group of disruptive customers.

What do you believe was the actual cause of the cancellation?

I would have thought that the well-rehearsed routine in such circumstances is for troublesome passengers to be offloaded with police assistance, although it does seem plausible that the flight would already have been delayed (potentially causing the disruption) and the time taken to offload the troublemakers could have been enough to put the crew beyond their hours, but that's just speculation....

TELLIT01

The OP needs to request/demand a full explanation of the form the disruption took.  Was it on-board the aircraft?  Were any of the disruptive passengers drunk?  It is a criminal offence to be drunk on an aircraft and those controlling boarding should refuse to allow anybody who is drunk to board.  If they allowed drunks to board, that is surely their responsibility.

JPears

The disruptive passengers may have been on the previous leg?