Delayed Flight December 2022

Thyme2010

I was on an easy jet flight from Malaga to London Gatwick in the middle of December.   The snow was forecast the day before! My flight arrived more than three hours late into Malaga, at this point the snow hadn’t arrived, but it was very cold in London Gatwick, necessitating de-icing of the planes.   Apparently there were not enough de-icing rigs to de- ice the number of planes needing them.   We left Malaga four hours late for London Gatwick.  We were told on approaching London Gatwick that the airport was closing and we’d be going to London Stansted.   This we did. We were on the plane for a further hour until it was decided we would stay at London Stansted.  We disembarked and awaited instructions.  None were forth coming.  By now the time was 22.00. I would’ve been unable to get to London Gatwick that night.  An Easy Jet employee suggested I book into a hotel before they were full as there were three more diversions that night.  This I did.  I’ve applied for compensation from Easy Jet, who told me it was an exceptional circumstance.   My query is who is responsible for having enough de-icing rigs?  It was December, when you would expect the weather to be cold and icy, and even snowy!  This weather was also forecast the day before.   I’ve put my claim with ADR who now have had it for more than the 90 day period.  I am at a loss as to where to go next.  Thank you. 

eskbanker

Aviation ADR aren't renowned for swift adjudications, so they'll get round to this one at some point even if it extends beyond their 90 day target - how far has your case progressed through the stages identified at https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/complaint-process/, in terms of how its status shows on your dashboard (the 90 days doesn't cover the entire end to end process)?

If EasyJet defend their position then they'll submit a detailed explanation of the events of that day - if you share the details on here then posters should be able to take a view on whether it genuinely is extraordinary circumstances, but the fact that bad weather was forecast obviously doesn't mean that it won't cause delays once it arrives. I don't know the exact details of de-icing arrangements but believe that such services would be provided by the airport rather than the airline, so the latter probably isn't liable.

Note however that extraordinary circumstances only negates obligations to pay the fixed tariff delay compensation - they should still reimburse the costs of overnight accommodation if that was necessary, although it should have been possible to travel from Stansted to Gatwick on public transport after 22:00 even if the airline weren't making any arrangements, unless there were strikes, etc, then?