EJ rejected compensation giving different reasons to pilot

samtheman1k

Hi, we had boarded the plane from LGW to CDG (Paris).  The plane was about 20mins late from Tenerife, and then the pilot said that there was a shortage of baggage handlers at LGW and couldn't load up the bags.  This was clear from the fact the luggage was all sat there outside for eons!  After about an hour, the pilot then said that the issue is that as the flight is late, whilst they could fly to CDG, as the flight was late, and due to the night curfew on flight take offs from CDG, they wouldn't be able to fly the plane back to LGW that evening.  So they cancelled the flight at about 2115 (not that late!) saying that they've missed the CDG slot for the next flight!  

However, EJ have said in their response for compensation:
"To further explain what happened on the day; restrictions imposed by London Gatwick airport authorities substantially regulated the number of flights allowed to depart, which resulted in long delays to aircraft before being given permission to move from their parking stand, sometimes for several hours. Ultimately and in the case of this flight we had no option but to cancel it. We do take reasonable measures to avoid delays and cancellations to our flights by having replacement crews and spare aircraft available in our network. However, in the circumstances, these options would not have helped as your flight was delayed due to airport restrictions at London Gatwick airport."

There was no strike by ground staff, this was merely insufficient ground staff.  They could also of flew to CDG and kept the plane there until morning.  

Is this worth escalating?  It seems the restrictions they claim were actually due to insufficient staff, thus presumably within control, although would this fall under "Air traffic management decisions" as the flight was already late before boarding?

eskbanker

samtheman1k said:

EJ have said in their response for compensation:
"To further explain what happened on the day; restrictions imposed by London Gatwick airport authorities substantially regulated the number of flights allowed to depart, which resulted in long delays to aircraft before being given permission to move from their parking stand, sometimes for several hours. Ultimately and in the case of this flight we had no option but to cancel it. We do take reasonable measures to avoid delays and cancellations to our flights by having replacement crews and spare aircraft available in our network. However, in the circumstances, these options would not have helped as your flight was delayed due to airport restrictions at London Gatwick airport."

[...]

It seems the restrictions they claim were actually due to insufficient staff, thus presumably within control, although would this fall under "Air traffic management decisions" as the flight was already late before boarding?

I read their quoted explanation as relating to Air Traffic Control restrictions on departure slots, which isn't within the airline's control.

If the explanation given when rejecting the claim differs from that offered at the time then you can keep pushing back at them and insisting on the version of events that the pilot gave, but I doubt they'll concede, so you'd need to escalate to Aviation ADR once EasyJet give you their final response.

The truth may be somewhere in between the two versions - obviously if there are air traffic control restrictions that look like delaying a flight, it would be understandable to prioritise baggage loading for flights that would be less delayed.