Easyjet flight cancellation - at the gate!

ChequeBookGerry

Dear all,

Yesterday, my family was supposed to be flying from Manchester to Athens, with Easyjet at 15:40.  Flight was delayed until 17:25 due to air traffic control action on the incoming flight, then as we were queuing to leave the terminal building to cross the tarmac we were called back, told due to the delay in the plane arriving meant the captain would go over his hours and the flight was cancelled.  (Then told to sort our own alternatives out, find a hotel at the airport if we needed one and so can we then just leave - shocking.)  So, on the email from Easyjet, they say the flight was cancelled due to industrial action which, I presume, means that legally they think they do not have to pay the statutory compensation.  However, having read the sticky, I see that under the Friederike Wallentin-Hermann judgement:

"26      It should be noted at the outset that, very often, the occurrence of extraordinary circumstances makes it difficult, if not impossible, to operate a flight at the scheduled time. Thus, the risk of delay to a flight, which may ultimately result in its cancellation, is the usual – and therefore foreseeable – detrimental consequence for passengers when extraordinary circumstances arise.

27      It follows that the air carrier, since it is obliged, under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004, to implement all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances, must reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances.

28      More particularly, to prevent any delay, even insignificant, to which extraordinary circumstances have given rise inevitably leading to cancellation of the flight, the reasonable air carrier must organise its resources in good time to provide for some reserve time, so as to be able, if possible, to operate that flight once the extraordinary circumstances have come to an end. If, in such a situation, an air carrier does not, however, have any reserve time, it cannot be concluded that it has taken all reasonable measures as provided for in Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004."

I feel that Easyjet have not implemented "all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances" and have not "reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances" in that if an inbound flight delay of  just 105 minutes causes a cancellation as, we were told at the gate, that "strikes were normal for the time of year".  So, has anyone had this situation before?  

Secondly, has anyone used a decent lawyer to fight a claim?  I'm fine to do this myself, but I'd rather pass it on to someone else, for a fee.

Many thanks.

Westin

Industrial actions with French ATC was creating all sorts of issues yesterday.  As well as the inbound flight I suspect your MAN ATH flight would have had problems.  Flights had been rerouting well away from French airspace adding to flying time, even if divisions into other countries airspace was possible.  

tightauldgit

ChequeBookGerry said:

Dear all,

Yesterday, my family was supposed to be flying from Manchester to Athens, with Easyjet at 15:40.  Flight was delayed until 17:25 due to air traffic control action on the incoming flight, then as we were queuing to leave the terminal building to cross the tarmac we were called back, told due to the delay in the plane arriving meant the captain would go over his hours and the flight was cancelled.  (Then told to sort our own alternatives out, find a hotel at the airport if we needed one and so can we then just leave - shocking.)  So, on the email from Easyjet, they say the flight was cancelled due to industrial action which, I presume, means that legally they think they do not have to pay the statutory compensation.  However, having read the sticky, I see that under the Friederike Wallentin-Hermann judgement:

"26      It should be noted at the outset that, very often, the occurrence of extraordinary circumstances makes it difficult, if not impossible, to operate a flight at the scheduled time. Thus, the risk of delay to a flight, which may ultimately result in its cancellation, is the usual – and therefore foreseeable – detrimental consequence for passengers when extraordinary circumstances arise.

27      It follows that the air carrier, since it is obliged, under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004, to implement all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances, must reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances.

28      More particularly, to prevent any delay, even insignificant, to which extraordinary circumstances have given rise inevitably leading to cancellation of the flight, the reasonable air carrier must organise its resources in good time to provide for some reserve time, so as to be able, if possible, to operate that flight once the extraordinary circumstances have come to an end. If, in such a situation, an air carrier does not, however, have any reserve time, it cannot be concluded that it has taken all reasonable measures as provided for in Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004."

I feel that Easyjet have not implemented "all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances" and have not "reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances" in that if an inbound flight delay of  just 105 minutes causes a cancellation as, we were told at the gate, that "strikes were normal for the time of year".  So, has anyone had this situation before?  

Secondly, has anyone used a decent lawyer to fight a claim?  I'm fine to do this myself, but I'd rather pass it on to someone else, for a fee.

Many thanks.

In determining whether they've taken all reasonable measures it's not going to be the length of the delay that matters surely so much as what the mitigating measures would be and whether they could be reasonably expected. If the answer to the problem is for example for airlines to just have spare pilots hanging around every airport on the off chance there's a delay then I don't think that would be seen as reasonable. 

youth_leader

I'm so terribly sorry to read this and hope you have managed to go on holiday. 

It's given me the jitters as I need to get down to Heathrow the day before for my early international flight the next morning.  BA have already changed my flight times twice.  

I've now got a plan B, if I can't board the flight at 1605 I've booked a Megabus for 1830, at least it gives me an option.  

CKhalvashi

tightauldgit said:

ChequeBookGerry said:

Dear all,

Yesterday, my family was supposed to be flying from Manchester to Athens, with Easyjet at 15:40.  Flight was delayed until 17:25 due to air traffic control action on the incoming flight, then as we were queuing to leave the terminal building to cross the tarmac we were called back, told due to the delay in the plane arriving meant the captain would go over his hours and the flight was cancelled.  (Then told to sort our own alternatives out, find a hotel at the airport if we needed one and so can we then just leave - shocking.)  So, on the email from Easyjet, they say the flight was cancelled due to industrial action which, I presume, means that legally they think they do not have to pay the statutory compensation.  However, having read the sticky, I see that under the Friederike Wallentin-Hermann judgement:

"26      It should be noted at the outset that, very often, the occurrence of extraordinary circumstances makes it difficult, if not impossible, to operate a flight at the scheduled time. Thus, the risk of delay to a flight, which may ultimately result in its cancellation, is the usual – and therefore foreseeable – detrimental consequence for passengers when extraordinary circumstances arise.

27      It follows that the air carrier, since it is obliged, under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004, to implement all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances, must reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances.

28      More particularly, to prevent any delay, even insignificant, to which extraordinary circumstances have given rise inevitably leading to cancellation of the flight, the reasonable air carrier must organise its resources in good time to provide for some reserve time, so as to be able, if possible, to operate that flight once the extraordinary circumstances have come to an end. If, in such a situation, an air carrier does not, however, have any reserve time, it cannot be concluded that it has taken all reasonable measures as provided for in Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004."

I feel that Easyjet have not implemented "all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances" and have not "reasonably, at the stage of organising the flight, take account of the risk of delay connected to the possible occurrence of extraordinary circumstances" in that if an inbound flight delay of  just 105 minutes causes a cancellation as, we were told at the gate, that "strikes were normal for the time of year".  So, has anyone had this situation before?  

Secondly, has anyone used a decent lawyer to fight a claim?  I'm fine to do this myself, but I'd rather pass it on to someone else, for a fee.

Many thanks.

In determining whether they've taken all reasonable measures it's not going to be the length of the delay that matters surely so much as what the mitigating measures would be and whether they could be reasonably expected. If the answer to the problem is for example for airlines to just have spare pilots hanging around every airport on the off chance there's a delay then I don't think that would be seen as reasonable. 

At the airport not necessarily, on home standby definitely it's reasonable.

The issue with that will come to reasonable crewing numbers. It wouldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility for Easyjet to have exhausted all standby crews due to industrial action by a third party (that Easyjet don't control).

A route like Athens, especially on a 4 sector, will often be quite tight at the best of times (depending on where the crew had been before). It's very possible that neither Easyjet nor the crew would have been aware of any further delays (affecting your flight directly) until they called for clearance. They can't do this until 20-30 minutes before departure.

On the balance of probability, compensation wouldn't be payable.