InkJet.
There's nothing 'contractual' about my remarks, believe me!!!
But when BA tell their stranded passengers they only have 3 days in a hotel paid for by BA, after that they are on their own, when MON tell stranded Royal Navy veterans on a visit to Gib' you can stay in your hotel at your expense AND you'll have to wait over a week for a flight home, when RyanAir TEXT their customers with a simple message saying 'FLIGHT CANCELLED' then I would call that THAT abysmal Customer Service.
After buying a ticket & therefore having a 'Contract' of carriage with an airline I expect them to get me from where I am to where I want to go or incur & re-imburse any costs if they cannot fulfill their obligation.
Those 3 examples are FACTS because they happened to a neighbour who got stuck in Moscow & a friend trying to get back from Dubai, both with BA. An elderly relative stuck in Gibraltar & a colleague who got shafted by RYR & incurred £2600 & took 4 days to get home with his family.
But in extreme circumstances, such as a volcanic eruption, I would expect a carrier to give me an option of a full refund or free re-booking- Jet2 did that, I know because I had to re-book my Dad's flights. A friend's wife & her party going away for a 40th birthday opted for the full refund. Simples.
I would expect an attempt to re-patriate stranded travellers- Jet2 were the first or among the first to organise coaches & chartered aircraft to Spanish & French ports. For those stuck further afield in Cyprus & Egypt, Jet2 had aircraft ready to fly to the Eastern Med' with a plan to shuttle them to Prague then get them back to the UK by train and/or coach but UK & European Airspace re-opened.
Some pax from the South & South Eastern England repatriated by Jet2 had never even heard of Jet2 & were suprised that they were a UK operator. Quite a few were even complimentary & suggested Jet2 should start services from Southern UK airfields.
Jet2.com didn't have any airframes & crews stuck overseas incurring large costs such as BA, Thomson, Virgin & the like. It will be interesting to see how Governments & airlines alike, react should the top come off the mountain again......as it may claim a few scalps but I hope not.
Jet2's efforts, Europewide, for their pax & customers were as good as some & better than most when you consider how some Spanish, Greek & Italian citizens faired. Jet2 are a Lo-Cost operator much smaller than EZY & RYR & have much smaller financial resources than their 2 bigger rivals, but in terms of Customer Care, Jet2 easily punch above their weight.
Whether it was a family travelling to or from holiday, a business person unable to a clinch deal, a crew member trying to get back to friends & family or an airline that really didn't need a week like that, everybody who was affected suffered inconvenience. Let's just see what lessons can be learnt from this & adapt & amend contingencies & planning. If you suffered, then I sympathise but you weren't the only one & probably not affected any worse than anybody else. So file your claims, call a solicitor & do what you feel is right but ask yourself, could this company REALLY do any more than they did or were allowed to do with the imposed restrictions & demands placed upon their staff & systems?
Good luck.
