News: Passengers sue Ryanair over cancelled flights
Flights > News > # 1921 (06/10/2008)
Ryanair is being sued by 40 passengers whose flights have been cancelled in test cases which could trigger an avalanche of claims against the airline industry as a whole.
A Dutch company which specialises in launching actions against airlines has instructed lawyers in Dublin to start proceedings against the Irish no-frills carrier.
EUclaim is offering to handle compensation claims from passengers.
"When individual passengers approached the airline for compensation they were informed that the delays or cancellations were due to 'weather conditions' or 'technical problems," a spokesman for the company said.
"In most cases airlines will reject claims made by individual passengers, stating 'extraordinary circumstances' as the cause of the delay or cancellation. But more often than not this is not the case.”
The company, which specializes in analysing flight and weather data, claims it is in a position to challenge this. For example it claims it can trace all aircraft movements, using the tail fin number.
The court action is the latest salvo in a long-standing battle over passengers' rights, which has involved lawyers, consumer groups and the EU. Under EU law passengers are entitled to compensation of up to £476 each if their flight is cancelled. But attempts to enforce these rights have been fiercely opposed by airlines. Consumer groups and the EU have claimed that carriers have tried to avoid paying out.
EU law says passengers can claim compensation payments if the flight is scrapped. In the event of long delays they can claim food, the cost of phone calls and – in some cases – overnight accommodation.
EU claim's intervention was dismissed by a Ryanair spokesman. He said: "Ryanair customer service only deals with passenger complaints made directly by passengers in writing.
"From time to time a small number of passengers may feel disgruntled. These passengers should contact Ryanair customer services in writing as set out on our website and can expect to have a reply within seven working days."
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Ryanair are well known for doing everything they can to avoid compensating passengers in the event of flight delays or cancellations, but they will always argue that this doesn't matter, as they are the airline which has the lowest rate of cancellations, lost bags etc. This might well be true, but it certainly should be much harder to lose a bag at a small out of the way airport like Oslo Torp, when compared with the complex transfer operations at airports like Heathrow. When it comes to delays, Ryanair should also have less excuses, as the smaller airports they use are less prone to ground congestion and air traffic control delays. Of course, this is all part of Ryanair's business model - less delays mean lower costs for them, and cheaper fares for passengers.
However, there have been enough high profile cases to generate a significant army of Ryanair haters out there, so it will be interesting to see what happens now that this Dutch law firm has launched this legal case.
In my personal experience, I have never had a single problem with Ryanair flight, and this doesn't surprise me, considering how their business model works. However, simply having a low rate of delays, doesn't excuse the kind of behaviour Ryanair have allegedly shown towards many of their customers. We have always felt that Ryanair's policy is based on the old adage that no news is good news - why should Ryanair mind if a few negative publicity stories come out, it is just another opportunity for their brand to get mentioned, and for them to restate their oft repeated punctuality and customer service figures.
Extending Ryanair's argument a bit further, 99.9% of all flights operated takeoff and land safely, but very occasionally accidents happen. Ryanair's logic would suggest that if such an occurrence ever did happen to one of their aircraft, that this wouldn't matter either, and that such an incident shouldn’t be investigated, because all their other flights operated normally.
We will watch this case with interest.
