EasyJet decline compensation claim due to airport collision

BikingBud

bagand96 said:

Let's hope easyJet and the CAA haven't been so quick to hang the Captains out to dry!

The regulations quoted above are taken from the requirements for Commercial Air Transport Operators, not sure if they've been relied on in respect of EC261 regulations in the past or whether there's any test case for that?

The ground collision at Manchester will be investigated and if it's an AAIB Investigation findings will be made public, note the AAIB don't apportion blame, they look for causes and contributory factors.

I think at this stage you won't get easyJet to agree it was their fault, they will be relying on extraordinary circumstances.  If you wish to continue with that argument you may need wait until any report is published, and even at that point it won't be an easy claim.

Investigations can be undertaken for many differing purposes. 

I am very happy with air safety investigations, thank you. And whilst the focus may be on safety recommendations to prevent recurrence they must still address responsibilities and actions. Only by assessing all aspects of the occurrence can true causal factors be determined. That said it seems the occurrence is not currently being investigated by the AAIB.

Nevertheless as I am sure you will recognise, I did not mention anything about an Annex 13 (non-blameworthy) investigation, yet the insurers, the group with the liability for the delay expenses, may want to investigate to apportion blame.

In fact it seems Easyjet have already done that and were very content to "hang someone else out to dry" by stating third a party supplier caused the damage.

Beaniepop said:

Today I have received an email from Easy Jet declining my claim for compensation due to the delay, here is their response;

To further explain what happened on the day; a third party supplier at the airport caused damage to the plane that was schedueled to take you to Paris Charles de Gaulle.Once parked in the gate area, the damage to the aircraft had to be assessed. Unfortunately, there was significant damage found which we were unable to repair, we had no option but to delay your flight. We do take reasonable measures to avoid cancellations and delays to our flights by having replacement crews and spare aircraft available in our network. In the circumstances, these options were not possible as higher than expected levels of disruption to our network meant that our replacement crew and spare aircraft had already been deployed.


Can anyone advise on the next steps I should take for this? Are EasyJet correct in rejecting the claim?. I’m not sure I agree with the ‘third party supplier’ causing the damage as both of the planes that collided were EasyJet planes 

So I would stick with my previous advice and suggest the OP writes to EasyJet and reaffirms the flight commanders responsibilities and how a ground collision cannot be construed in any circumstances as a result of 3rd party actions and that you hold them wholly responsible for the delay. 

@beaniepo did you go through the checklist: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm#cancellation

Extraordinary circumstances - Cancellation 
Extraordinary circumstances can lead to cancellation(s) or delay(s) at the final destination. Examples of events defined as extraordinary circumstances are air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather conditions and security risks. 
Situations which are not considered as extraordinary circumstances include: 

• most technical problems which come to light during aircraft maintenance or are caused by failure to maintain an aircraft 

• collision of mobile boarding stairs with an aircraft 

• strikes by air carrier staff (internal strike action) 

Any strike external to an air carrier that affects the operation of the airline may be considered as extraordinary circumstances. However, to be exempted from paying compensation, the airline must prove that: i) there is a link between the extraordinary circumstances and the delay or the cancellation, and ii) the delay or cancellation could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. 
If the airline does not provide you with a satisfactory explanation, you can contact your national authority for further assistance.

All reasonable measures includes trusting the aircraft Pilot in Command to conduct their duties diligently.

Beaniepop

Thank you all for your replies so far, I would like to include a few further details, in the hope that more advice can be provided. As per my original post, easyJet have rejected my initial claim for compensation. Ultimately I would like to receive advice / opinions on whether I should appeal this decision or if indeed easyJet are correct and no compensation is due.

First I would like to state that the claim I have logged with easyJet is to seek compensation due to the delays. I am not seeking compensation for the sole purpose of being involved in a collision / accident. Truth be told this was a very minor incident in regard to personal injury and I have no desire to seek any compensation for injury etc.

EasyJet’s website states the following in regards to when compensation is due;

1. Right to compensation

Has your flight been cancelled?

Has your flight been delayed so that you arrive at least 3 hours after the original scheduled arrival time?

Have you been denied boarding involuntarily?

If so, you may be entitled to the following compensation:

• £220 / €250 for flights of 1500 km or less;
• £350 / €400 for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km, and all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km;
• £520 / €600 for all other flights of 3500km or more.

Please note that the compensation will be reduced by 50% if easyJet is able to offer you re-routing on an alternative flight to your final destination that was scheduled to arrive:

• no more than 2 hours after your original flight arrival time, in respect of flights of 1500 km or less;
• no more than 3 hours after your original flight arrival time for all flights between 1500 and 3500km provided you are flying in Europe; or
• no more than 4 hours after your original flight arrival time for any other flights.

Please note that compensation is only payable where the cause of the delay or cancellation is for reasons other than extraordinary circumstances

Our flight was due to depart Manchester at 0615 and arrive into Paris CDG at 08:50, due to the delayed flight we actually departed Manchester at 11:16 and arrived into Paris at 13:15.

It’s worth noting that our flight was 558km and was delayed, not cancelled. Also easyJet did provide us with food/drink vouchers whilst we were delayed in the terminal.

In my opinion we meet the criteria in order to apply for compensation based on the length of the delay. I believe that easyJet have rejected the claim on the basis of extraordinary circumstances, by stating that a third party had damaged the aircraft. 

Looking into extraordinary circumstances the CAA defines this as 

The UK law on flight compensation uses the term 'extraordinary circumstances' to refer to situations where delays or cancellations have been caused by things that are not the responsibility of the airline. If extraordinary circumstances apply, you are not entitled to compensation.

The Regulation does not define “extraordinary circumstances” and there have been a number of cases in the European (before the UK left the EU) and English courts regarding what the term covers. The cases have centred on whether technical faults on an aircraft could be an extraordinary circumstance. In June 2014 the English Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the Jet2 v Huzar case which provided clarity in the UK that technical problems were not an extraordinary circumstance.

In September 2015 the European Court looked at the same issue in the case of KLM v van der Lans. The court found that technical problems were not extraordinary and neither was the early failure of an aircraft component. The ruling noted two types of technical fault that may be extraordinary, a hidden manufacturing defect and damage to an aircraft caused by sabotage or terrorism.

Examples of extraordinary circumstances

The main categories of events that are likely to be an extraordinary circumstance include:

• Weather conditions incompatible with the safe operation of the flight
• Strikes (unrelated to the airline such as airport staff, ground handlers, air traffic control or border force)
• Acts of terrorism or sabotage
• Security risks
• Political or civil unrest
• Hidden manufacturing defects (a manufacturer recall that grounds a fleet of aircraft)

I suppose this will be the sticking point as it’s not clear cut as to what is or is not classed as extraordinary circumstances. That being said my opinion on this is that due to both of the planes involved in the collision that caused the delays were easyJet planes, ultimately they have to be responsible. 

I’m not an avid fan of aviation, nor do I work in the industry so it would be wrong of me to point fingers or suggest why the collision occurred, that being said I can suggest a few reasons off the top of my head such as;

Knowledge loss

Poor communication

Loss of concentration

Fatigue 

Lack of situational awareness 

Poor decision making 

Etc etc etc

EasyJet will have policies regarding training, fatigue etc etc and somewhere, somehow something has slipped the net and my opinion is regardless of what it is, it is down to easyJet.

What are your thoughts? Is this worth per suing?

Thanks

BikingBud

Beaniepop said:

Thank you all for your replies so far, I would like to include a few further details, in the hope that more advice can be provided. As per my original post, easyJet have rejected my initial claim for compensation. Ultimately I would like to receive advice / opinions on whether I should appeal this decision or if indeed easyJet are correct and no compensation is due.

First I would like to state that the claim I have logged with easyJet is to seek compensation due to the delays. I am not seeking compensation for the sole purpose of being involved in a collision / accident. Truth be told this was a very minor incident in regard to personal injury and I have no desire to seek any compensation for injury etc.

EasyJet’s website states the following in regards to when compensation is due;

1. Right to compensation

Has your flight been cancelled?

Has your flight been delayed so that you arrive at least 3 hours after the original scheduled arrival time?

Have you been denied boarding involuntarily?

If so, you may be entitled to the following compensation:

• £220 / €250 for flights of 1500 km or less;
• £350 / €400 for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km, and all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km;
• £520 / €600 for all other flights of 3500km or more.

Please note that the compensation will be reduced by 50% if easyJet is able to offer you re-routing on an alternative flight to your final destination that was scheduled to arrive:

• no more than 2 hours after your original flight arrival time, in respect of flights of 1500 km or less;
• no more than 3 hours after your original flight arrival time for all flights between 1500 and 3500km provided you are flying in Europe; or
• no more than 4 hours after your original flight arrival time for any other flights.

Please note that compensation is only payable where the cause of the delay or cancellation is for reasons other than extraordinary circumstances

Our flight was due to depart Manchester at 0615 and arrive into Paris CDG at 08:50, due to the delayed flight we actually departed Manchester at 11:16 and arrived into Paris at 13:15.

It’s worth noting that our flight was 558km and was delayed, not cancelled. Also easyJet did provide us with food/drink vouchers whilst we were delayed in the terminal.

In my opinion we meet the criteria in order to apply for compensation based on the length of the delay. I believe that easyJet have rejected the claim on the basis of extraordinary circumstances, by stating that a third party had damaged the aircraft. 

Looking into extraordinary circumstances the CAA defines this as 

The UK law on flight compensation uses the term 'extraordinary circumstances' to refer to situations where delays or cancellations have been caused by things that are not the responsibility of the airline. If extraordinary circumstances apply, you are not entitled to compensation.

The Regulation does not define “extraordinary circumstances” and there have been a number of cases in the European (before the UK left the EU) and English courts regarding what the term covers. The cases have centred on whether technical faults on an aircraft could be an extraordinary circumstance. In June 2014 the English Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the Jet2 v Huzar case which provided clarity in the UK that technical problems were not an extraordinary circumstance.

In September 2015 the European Court looked at the same issue in the case of KLM v van der Lans. The court found that technical problems were not extraordinary and neither was the early failure of an aircraft component. The ruling noted two types of technical fault that may be extraordinary, a hidden manufacturing defect and damage to an aircraft caused by sabotage or terrorism.

Examples of extraordinary circumstances

The main categories of events that are likely to be an extraordinary circumstance include:

• Weather conditions incompatible with the safe operation of the flight
• Strikes (unrelated to the airline such as airport staff, ground handlers, air traffic control or border force)
• Acts of terrorism or sabotage
• Security risks
• Political or civil unrest
• Hidden manufacturing defects (a manufacturer recall that grounds a fleet of aircraft)

I suppose this will be the sticking point as it’s not clear cut as to what is or is not classed as extraordinary circumstances. That being said my opinion on this is that due to both of the planes involved in the collision that caused the delays were easyJet planes, ultimately they have to be responsible. 

I’m not an avid fan of aviation, nor do I work in the industry so it would be wrong of me to point fingers or suggest why the collision occurred, that being said I can suggest a few reasons off the top of my head such as;

Knowledge loss

Poor communication

Loss of concentration

Fatigue 

Lack of situational awareness 

Poor decision making 

Etc etc etc

EasyJet will have policies regarding training, fatigue etc etc and somewhere, somehow something has slipped the net and my opinion is regardless of what it is, it is down to easyJet.

What are your thoughts? Is this worth per suing?

Thanks

You are not suing you are claiming compensation from the airline due to the incident that was a result of their crew, nothing extraordinary, hence they shuts remain liable. If they feel it is they need to prove it. 

The airline has to prove this by providing, for example, extracts from logbooks or incident reports. The air carrier should give this evidence to the relevant national enforcement body as well as to the passengers concerned in line with national provisions on access to documents.

Ok so try this link and follow it up: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm#next-steps-2

If Easyjet still object you escalate to the CCA using the same logic as I had presented before:

If you don't receive a reply from the airline within 2 months or if you are not satisfied with the reply, you can lodge a complaint with the relevant national authority in the country where the incident took place, within a reasonable timeframe. The national authority should provide you with a non-binding legal opinion on how to proceed with your claim.

deeleys

Hi,

I was flying to Amsterdam at 4.30pm that day and it was cancelled.  The plane was delayed from Istanbul and then diverted to Cologne due to a "crew medical emergency" (we found that info from another website).

I received this from them;

Thank you for getting in touch. We’re very sorry that your flight from MAN to AMS was CANCELLATION

We always review claims fairly and in keeping with EU/UK regulation.  When a flight is cancelled, all customers are entitled to switch to a new flight for free, request a full refund, or a voucher for future travel. However, as your flight needed to be cancelled for reasons outside of our control, unfortunately we’re unable to offer you compensation as well.

To further explain what happened on the day; an earlier flight operating on your aircraft to Amsterdam diverted to an alternate airport following a medical emergency. Ultimately and in the case of this flight, we had no option but to cancel your 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. However, in the circumstances, these options would not have helped as your flight was cancelled due to an earlier medical incident.

I am going to send them this;

Subject: Formal Complaint and Compensation Request – Flight Cancellation on 15 August 2025

Dear EasyJet Customer Services,

I am writing to formally dispute your refusal to compensate for the cancellation of our flight 2167 from Manchester to Amsterdam on 15 August 2025.

On the morning of 15 August, two EasyJet aircraft collided on the runway at Manchester Airport, causing widespread disruption. Our flight, scheduled for 16:30, was ultimately cancelled. Based on flight tracking data, the aircraft assigned to our route was delayed departing Istanbul—likely due to the earlier incident—and later diverted to Cologne for a reported “crew medical emergency.” Given the timing and operational constraints, I believe this diversion was used to avoid delay compensation obligations, as the flight would have arrived in Amsterdam approximately four hours late.

I allege that the cancellation was a direct consequence of the morning’s disruption and not due to extraordinary circumstances. Furthermore, your website’s refund tracker and contact forms repeatedly failed, and it took over two weeks to learn that the flight refund had been issued to Lastminute.com, from whom I am still trying to recover the funds.

In addition to the cancelled flight, I incurred the following costs:

• £180 for overnight accommodation at Manchester Airport, for which I’m currently claiming.
• £382 for three replacement flights to Düsseldorf the following morning.
• £250 for one lost night (two rooms) at our Amsterdam hotel.
• Additional travel costs for a friend who drove six hours round-trip from Amsterdam to Düsseldorf.

Unless this matter is resolved promptly and fairly, I will escalate it to the Civil Aviation Authority and pursue legal action.

I look forward to your urgent response.

Sincerely,

I have a draft ready for the CAA also.  I'm livid with EasyJet!

Steve

jimi_man

deeleys said:

Hi,

I was flying to Amsterdam at 4.30pm that day and it was cancelled.  The plane was delayed from Istanbul and then diverted to Cologne due to a "crew medical emergency" (we found that info from another website).

I received this from them;

Thank you for getting in touch. We’re very sorry that your flight from MAN to AMS was CANCELLATION

We always review claims fairly and in keeping with EU/UK regulation.  When a flight is cancelled, all customers are entitled to switch to a new flight for free, request a full refund, or a voucher for future travel. However, as your flight needed to be cancelled for reasons outside of our control, unfortunately we’re unable to offer you compensation as well.

To further explain what happened on the day; an earlier flight operating on your aircraft to Amsterdam diverted to an alternate airport following a medical emergency. Ultimately and in the case of this flight, we had no option but to cancel your 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. However, in the circumstances, these options would not have helped as your flight was cancelled due to an earlier medical incident.

I am going to send them this;

Subject: Formal Complaint and Compensation Request – Flight Cancellation on 15 August 2025

Dear EasyJet Customer Services,

I am writing to formally dispute your refusal to compensate for the cancellation of our flight 2167 from Manchester to Amsterdam on 15 August 2025.

On the morning of 15 August, two EasyJet aircraft collided on the runway at Manchester Airport, causing widespread disruption. Our flight, scheduled for 16:30, was ultimately cancelled. Based on flight tracking data, the aircraft assigned to our route was delayed departing Istanbul—likely due to the earlier incident—and later diverted to Cologne for a reported “crew medical emergency.” Given the timing and operational constraints, I believe this diversion was used to avoid delay compensation obligations, as the flight would have arrived in Amsterdam approximately four hours late.

I allege that the cancellation was a direct consequence of the morning’s disruption and not due to extraordinary circumstances. Furthermore, your website’s refund tracker and contact forms repeatedly failed, and it took over two weeks to learn that the flight refund had been issued to Lastminute.com, from whom I am still trying to recover the funds.

In addition to the cancelled flight, I incurred the following costs:

• £180 for overnight accommodation at Manchester Airport, for which I’m currently claiming.
• £382 for three replacement flights to Düsseldorf the following morning.
• £250 for one lost night (two rooms) at our Amsterdam hotel.
• Additional travel costs for a friend who drove six hours round-trip from Amsterdam to Düsseldorf.

Unless this matter is resolved promptly and fairly, I will escalate it to the Civil Aviation Authority and pursue legal action.

I look forward to your urgent response.

Sincerely,

I have a draft ready for the CAA also.  I'm livid with EasyJet!

Steve

I think on MSE as yours is a different set of circumstances, it’s suggested that you really need to start your own thread rather than jump on another one, as it can get confusing for the OP. 

To allege that EasyJet used a crew medical emergency as a reason to divert and thus avoid UK261 is quite a claim? Probably fairly easy to clarify as well. In your case it seems fairly cut and dried that UK261 won’t be payable because of the medical emergency. But anything is possible. 

Secondly you’re unlikely to be able to claim for the lost night at Amsterdam and certainly won’t be able to claim for your friend’s travel costs!!! 

Whether they’ll pay for the replacement flights is a difficult one. What opportunity did you give EasyJet to find an alternative route? It looks like you requested a refund otherwise they wouldn’t have issued one, in which case their responsibilities cease in terms of alternative routing and the cost of those flights would have to be borne by you. However it’s not clear from your post what happened. 

BikingBud

@deeleys

Not wishing to perpetuate a thread hijack but I feel that is taking the butterfly effect perspective too far.

Organgrinder

I wasn't going to post this having messaged the OP directly.

But for everyone's benefit, easyJet use the aviation ADR service in the event you are unhappy with their decision.

I was delayed returning from Bulgaria in January. easyJet refused my compensation claim, saying adverse weather caused it.

Via flight tracking and weather websites I presented a case which showed that there was no adverse weather on my flight route and other operators had not suffered delays.

easyJet settled the case for £700 (2 passengers).

In my opinion, when you purchase a ticket you do so with legislation covering a duty on the airline that they deliver you to your destination not just safely but in a timely manner provided there are no exceptional circumstances. How timely is covered in the regulations. Anything outside the permitted timeframe that is in the control of the airline requires compensation. This is the law and in effect part of your contract. 

Airlines (in my opinion) are very quick to charge you in the event you break your contract (eg baggage slightly too heavy or slightly too big) so anyone rightfully wanting to claim compensation is merely asking the airline to honour a contract. The difficulty at times is the interpretation of who is responsible for the delay and that is aviation ADR's role.

Aviation ADR is a free service to use. If you believe you have a case, it's worth doing.

deeleys

Apologies, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.  I don't post very often and don't know the etiquette.  I was trying to show a bit of solidarity after feeling we were both affected at the same airport on the same day and arguably being affected by the same incident.

@jimi_man I didn't expect them to pay our friends travel costs, but I want them to know what happened.

After the cancellation, only the app was available.  The following morning's flight was full from Manchester and there weren't any next day flights available from Liverpool, East Midlands or Birmingham, so we naively cancelled the flight and took the refund option.  Then booked the flight to the nearest city available (Dusseldorf).

jimi_man

deeleys said:

After the cancellation, only the app was available.  The following morning's flight was full from Manchester and there weren't any next day flights available from Liverpool, East Midlands or Birmingham, so we naively cancelled the flight and took the refund option.  Then booked the flight to the nearest city available (Dusseldorf).

No problem at all, it was only suggested about your own thread as you also may get more responses. 

Unfortunately when you cancel and accept a refund then you’re on your own and any flights you book after that are down to you. Also any accommodation that you book is now down to you, so they are very unlikely to pay for your Manchester hotel either, however it may depend on when you put in the refund. If it was the following day then you may be lucky but if it was pretty much straight away then I’m afraid you’re on your own. 

Obviously too late now but in future if it happens again then only cancel if you’re 100% sure you don’t want to travel. Generally it’s much better to stay within the system as it gives you more options. 

Kaiser05

Hi, just reading the posts and checking did all these incidents take place on 15/08/25? We were also delayed for over 3 hours on our flight from Belfast to Newcastle and received the same message of damage by a third party not our fault .After reading the previous message that states two easyJet planes collided with each other that morning in Manchester is it not highly unlikely they had two separate collisions in one day and are fobbing people off?