Who to claim compensation and expenses from.

CJH1957

Hi Can anyone advise what the position is when the passenger information board at an airport is incorrect and because of this a flight is missed? Is the fault with the airline or airport? I wish to seek compensation and reclaim the additional expenses of booking an alternative flight. Thank you.

JGB1955

I suspect we need a few more details.....

MeteredOut

I suspect the information board being wrong could be the fault of either the airline or the airport (but more likely to be the airport), but if the underlying question is who is responsible for a passenger missing a flight if the board is wrong, then the answer will very likely be the passenger and any redress claim is unlikely to be successful unless you can prove it directly caused you to miss the flight.

Do you have a photo of the "incorrect" information board? Did it display the wrong information, or did it just not update to say, for example, boarding? 

Were you at the gate on the boarding pass by the designated closing time? Did others make the flight?

eskbanker

CJH1957 said:

Hi Can anyone advise what the position is when the passenger information board at an airport is incorrect and because of this a flight is missed? Is the fault with the airline or airport? I wish to seek compensation and reclaim the additional expenses of booking an alternative flight. Thank you.

As above, more detail would help but in general it'll be the airport rather than the airline that publishes the data on the screens.  What were the circumstances, and did the flight depart empty or did others find their way to it?

400ixl

In what way was the board information incorrect?

Was it one of these times where the gate information changes last minute and you didn't notice until it was too late? As in most people made the flight but you didn't?

comeandgo

I would assume if information incorrect then plane left empty as all passengers would have acted on what the incorrect info stated.

CJH1957

Many thanks for the replies.
On arrival at the airport the information board was showing the flight as "being delayed - more info in 90 minutes". I did check the screen regularly, maybe 15 \ 20 minutes apart and the info stayed the same. On my last check the board was showing "last call" no mention of boarding. I managed to get to the gate where approx. 30 other passengers were and was told the plane had left. Sadly I didn't take a picture of the board (big mistake I know). I can only presume the passengers that managed to get on the flight got through passport control in time. I was told by a fellow stranded passenger the plane was still on the ground but a bus would be needed to take us and that wasn't available (I cannot confirm that is the case). 

Westin

CJH1957 said:

Many thanks for the replies.
On arrival at the airport the information board was showing the flight as "being delayed - more info in 90 minutes". I did check the screen regularly, maybe 15 \ 20 minutes apart and the info stayed the same. On my last check the board was showing "last call" no mention of boarding. I managed to get to the gate where approx. 30 other passengers were and was told the plane had left. Sadly I didn't take a picture of the board (big mistake I know). I can only presume the passengers that managed to get on the flight got through passport control in time. I was told by a fellow stranded passenger the plane was still on the ground but a bus would be needed to take us and that wasn't available (I cannot confirm that is the case). 

Which airport?  You mention passport control so presumably this was an overseas one?  If one of the large ones in Spain, Canary Islands, or Portugal, these can be big to navigate. Even if delayed it is worth making sure you are airside and even in the post Schengen area as queues to transit passport control can be long at times.

That is quite an unusual delay message “being delayed - more info in 90 minutes”.  I have only come across ones that state the flight is delayed, a delay time, or more info at xx time.

With an apparent 30 passengers missing the flight, what information and instructions were given by the gate agent to you all?

CJH1957

WESTIN -  Thanks for your reply. Sorry the message was 'flight delayed. More info in 90 minutes'. As the flight wasn't due to leave until 10.05am and I had got to Barcelona airport at 7.00am,  I (once again) presumed  the flight had not even left Manchester and no certain delay time could be given at that stage. I was airside from approx. 7.10am and yes you are correct about the queue, it was massive. I did manage to make my way to front of the queue by explaining to folk my situation. When I got to the gate, the gate agent was having a heated argument with some of the stranded passengers so it was another family that told me the plane had gone and they had been instructed to go to the Ryanair customer service desk.

martindow

I too came a cropper at Barcelona in a similar way.  I was in good time, went through security and sat around drinking coffee and whiling away the time.  The screen showed delayed and then jumped to final call, there was no intermediate announcement of the gate.  This was an Easyjet journey and I had not taken any notice of a letter on the display (C I think). 

My mistake was not going through passport control to wait in this area where the gates were.  It was not obvious to me, but everyone else seemed to have understood it better and caught the plane.  All flights for the following few days were full, but EJ were great and found seats on the next trip after some no shows left space (in return for some money of course).  The man on the desk insisted on accompanying us back through security and passports to be sure that the English idiot wouldn't be presenting himself again for rebooking. 

eskbanker

CJH1957 said:

Sorry the message was 'flight delayed. More info in 90 minutes'. As the flight wasn't due to leave until 10.05am and I had got to Barcelona airport at 7.00am,  I (once again) presumed  the flight had not even left Manchester and no certain delay time could be given at that stage. I was airside from approx. 7.10am and yes you are correct about the queue, it was massive. I did manage to make my way to front of the queue by explaining to folk my situation. When I got to the gate, the gate agent was having a heated argument with some of the stranded passengers so it was another family that told me the plane had gone and they had been instructed to go to the Ryanair customer service desk.

What was the approximate chronology thereafter, in terms of roughly when the display was last seen referring to 90 minutes, when the gate number was first advised (presumably when you first noticed it referring to 'last call'?), when you reached the gate, and when you believe the gate had closed?