easyJet Cancellation due to Extraordinary Circumstances

JonPhred

My wife's easyJet flight home from Athens to Gatwick (scheduled to leave at 12.30) was cancelled - apparently due to an Air Traffic Control problem (the LGW-ATH flight was cancelled so the aircraft wasn't available for the return). She discovered this when turning up to check-in for the flight but, upon return, has discovered that an e-mail was sent to her less than 24 hours before the scheduled departure to notify her.

When she eventually reached the front of the "Information" queue after 90 minutes, she was offered two zero-cost alternatives:
a) flight to Luton at 20.50
b) flight to Gatwick on the following day at 21.30 (or thereabouts).

No assistance was offered and no documentation was issued other than a "Confirmation Letter" carrying the booking reference. No other information at all was supplied (eg advising of passenger rights). She wanted to avoid having to pay for an overnight stay so opted for the Luton flight despite having to get to Gatwick where the car was parked.

I recognise that the problem with ATC appears, on the face of it, to constitute "extraordinary circumstances" so Article 7 compensation of 400EUR can be denied but Article 8(3) seems to require easyJet to meet the costs of her getting from Luton to Gatwick (presumably equivalent to the sum of the cheapest public transport fares even though she shared a taxi with others and the net cost was higher).

Any comments, advice or direct experience of the current situation with regard to infringement and enforcement would be welcome.

rjwilmsi

Well, I am in the fortunate position that I have never experienced such a delay/cancellation to a flight. However, I am aware of the rules, and based on http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=306&pagetype=90&pageid=9367 it seems to me that your wife is entitled to:
- a refund of the cost of the taxi (a taxi seems reasonable to me given the late time and the fact that the taxi was shared) unless easyjet arranged specific transport to Gatwick and your wife refused it
- compensation of €400 (There was nothing preventing easyjet taking off from Athens, except that they didn't have a plane there. They could have arranged for another plane to go to Athens to take the passengers, maybe with some delay, but without cancellation. To me a problem with an earlier flight is not 'extraordinary')
- a refund of reasonable meals/phone calls during the wait for the Luton flight.

I'm not an expert, I imagine easyjet will fight hard to avoid paying the €400, and maybe there is a precedent to say that earlier delays to flights are grounds for cancellation, but I think you have a clear case.

dzug1

rjwilmsi wrote: »

and maybe there is a precedent to say that earlier delays to flights are grounds for cancellation, but I think you have a clear case.

Knock on delays from earlier ATC decisions are specifically mentioned in the EEC regs:

(15) Extraordinary circumstances should be deemed to exist where the impact of an air traffic management decision in relation to a particular aircraft on a particular day gives rise to a long delay, an overnight delay, or the cancellation of one or more flights by that aircraft, even though all reasonable measures had been taken by the air carrier concerned to avoid the delays or cancellations.

So no compensation - but still entitled to assistance during the delay.

JonPhred

Thanks for replies.

Well, no assistance was forthcoming so I guess the long and tedious battle now begins to get reimbursement of the cost of goods and services that easyJet should have provided.

I reckon a complaint is also merited regarding their failure to provide assistance and, importantly, information.

Is there one website or thread here on MSE that provides the relevant info to help in all this or do I need to reinvent the wheel and research each data item individually as and when it occurs to me?

Shona99

JonPhred wrote: »

Thanks for replies.

Well, no assistance was forthcoming so I guess the long and tedious battle now begins to get reimbursement of the cost of goods and services that easyJet should have provided.

I reckon a complaint is also merited regarding their failure to provide assistance and, importantly, information.

Is there one website or thread here on MSE that provides the relevant info to help in all this or do I need to reinvent the wheel and research each data item individually as and when it occurs to me?

Have a look at https://www.flightmole.com/forum -this provides a forum discussing different claims and different airlines and precedent cases