Is it fair to blame the EU court? They were only ruling on what the law says. If you want different laws you have to vote for different governments :-)
Ryanair Loses EU Fight Over Ash Cloud Row
The court ruling said: "EU law does not recognise a separate category of 'particularly extraordinary' events, beyond 'extraordinary circumstances', which would lead to the air carrier being exempted from all its obligations under the regulation."
"...the court did give some relief to the airlines, by stating that they "may pass on the costs incurred as a result of that obligation to airline ticket prices".
The question is why haven't they been doing that? Shouldn't airlines understand their legal liabilities and factor the cost into their overheads? Presumably airlines are able to buy insurance just as easily and perhaps more cheaply than passengers?