Supreme Court refuses Jet2 and Thomson leave to appeal

[IB4138]

From Travelmole this morning.

Floodgates open as Supreme Court blocks Jet2 and Thomson appeals (http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?c=setreg&region=2&m_id=s~b~Annm&w_id=10402&news_id=2013919)

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/supreme-court-turns-down-flight-delay-appeals/5044782.article

[Black Knat]

Interesting. Could this turn into the 'PPI' of the aviation industry??

[paully]

The `something for very little` brigade will be salivating at this one....Then be the first to complain when their next ticket to Benidorm has gone up massively in price :ugh:

Seems :mad: Happens is no longer allowed to do so :rolleyes:

[captplaystation]

It will, at the end of the day, be an additional cost that will have to be passed on to the pax via increased ticket prices.

I am sure all of those demanding impeccable service will be only too happy to pay for it ;)

What compensation do you get when your train breaks down ? or your car leaves you stranded at the side of the road ?

I think it is just too "nanny mentality" UK for words. If the company concerned has performed maintenance in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations, and has a "reasonable" arrangement in place for unscheduled maintenance , both at home base & elsewhere, why, exactly, should you expect to be compensated for something that isn't the companies fault.

I believe most reasonable companies will stump up & accommodate stranded pax, that is reasonable, but more than that strikes me as gross exaggeration.

[chrisbl]

Of course prices will rise, it will be like an insurance premium against claims.

It's not rocket science.

[BOAC]

Anyone who has had a flight delay claim turned down because it was due to 'technical reasons' or because it was more than 2 years old should read http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/550395-supreme-court-refuses-jet2-thomson-leave-appeal.html and possibly get in touch with the lawyers.

[ChelleFyre]

This could turn into a money-making machine for solicitors who encourage people to file claims. Ultimately, it's possible that airline passengers will be the real losers, as carriers are forced to raise fares to cover these additional costs.

[BOAC]

I think if it avoids an un-compensated 27 hour delay due to 'technical reasons' (ie insufficient crews or aircraft to cope!) it will be a price worth paying.

[SpringHeeledJack]

Perhaps it will come to the point of every passenger having to have an insurance policy, either as a standalone or with ticket purchase. It needn't be big, but to cover the likely losses incurred on average. As it stands to echo others, prices will go up for everyone.

[BOAC]

prices will go up for everyone. - logically NOT everyone, since it is the lower end of the market that needs to cover the risk.

[bvcu]

Many of these airlines have been doing it on the cheap for a long time now, pilots doing turnrounds with no engineering available , defects only being logged when back at base . Even with engineering support the industry has drastically scaled back spares provision at outstations to save money. The real problem i think is the pressure being put on crews to carry on , but the people applying the pressure have no responsibility if anything goes wrong.

[Out Of Trim]

I would think the larger carriers will need to a keep a few extra aircraft and crews on standby to come to the rescue of Tech flights!

This will of course add a premium to ticket prices to pay for this.

Oh well, ticket prices were too cheap anyway! :ok:

[west lakes]

Given the rate of attrition of airlines and those pulling out of the charter market (Monarch) prices will climb owing to lack of competition.

Or non-EU airlines will take over with lower standards, try getting compensation from them!

[Icanseeclearly]

This will have huge implications for regional airlines where aircraft fly multiple sectors per day and have less than 50 seats.

For example each Loganair / Eastern / Stobart aircraft fly up to 10 sectors in a day.

You can claim "compensation" if your flight is delayed for more than 3 hours if the weather from a previous sector is a reason for the delay... Imagine the knock on effect if the first sector is delayed.

This will cost jobs and I expect some regionals will go under because of it

[JM926]

You can't claim for weather, it's exceptional circumstances

Edit: I stand corrected. Just read that if you're delayed due to a previous flight delay caused by weather you can claim. Crazy

[acroguy]

Maybe not so crazy. If I'm not mistaken, Fedex already launches spare aircraft to substitute for those grounded by mechanical or other problems.

[Capn Bloggs]

The packages obviously complain more about being late than humans... or perhaps Fedex promises "overnight'; so any delays have to be rectified ASAP...

Claimable weather delays??? You Europeans have truly lost the plot...

[Mr Angry from Purley]

Might need to read some EU regs to update yourself on corporate manslaughter

[caaardiff]

Airlines like Titan may do quite well out of this then.
I think if it's justified if a passenger has lost out because of a delay, loss of earnings through not being able to work, additional costs of transport/parking etc when returning.
If it's just your average passenger who arrived a few hours late with absolutely no impact on their life then it shouldn't be allowed. Ticket prices will go up and this needs to clearly be shown before the claim culture on this starts.
Next it will be automatic phonecalls like PPI... "Have you ever been on a delayed flight?" :ugh:

[cockney steve]

This should be looked-on as good news for the industry....It is a brake on "the race to the bottom" Every carrier will have to put uptheir ticket-price to cover the possibility of a payout, but, provided their reliability doesn't take a sudden nosedive, it means that extra money will be sloshing around in their bank, improving cash-flow.

There is no reason why the Government or CAA could not legislate a Bond for the"shadier" operators, in the same way Landlords are forced to deposit tenants' bonds with an approved party.
The increased price wil lalso settle the argument that low prices encourage more people to fly.
I don't see any problem, other than the seeker of really low fares is now being denied the risk of "taking his chance" with an absolute barebones, rock-bottom operator.

[mikehammer]

Surely the regionals flying multiple sectors per day will have to become trigger happy with the cancellation gun in the event of bad weather to save the rest of the day's schedule?

[barry lloyd]

...as BA regularly do with their domestic and short-haul European programme whenever there's a weather-related or operational problem outside their sphere of influence.

[scr1]

that would cause a lot of trouble for flts to the islands if they were to just canx flats. A lot of the pax are people going to hospital appointments. Or prisoner's along with the judge and lawyers going for a trial or going back to start their sentence

[ExXB]

The EU law of unforeseen consequences, everyone is screwed.

[PAXboy]

Politicians do this all the time. They want to 'fix' something and don't spend the time to look ahead by 5/10 years. There are a number of things that cme to mind where British politicos wanted a bit of quick publicity and by the time the :mad: arrives - they are in another ministry or on the golf course. :*

[tgon]

Quite rightly any form of transport should be exempt from events that cause delays or cancellations outside of their control. The grey area seems to be what is inside their influence to control, such as 3rd party maintenance operations. Even with the ruling I’m still not convinced the greyness is put to bed. However, rail, road and sea transport seem more established in their compensation policies for similar causes.

My current claim against an airline is based on an operational decision taken within 12 hours of the scheduled flight which subsequently denied me from boarding. However, the noise of the recent court cases and the airline response has unfairly buried my claim in with the rest, made quite legitimately and for non-technical reasons. :sad:

[LadyL2013]

I dunno. On one hand I think a minor delay or a knock on delay seems a bit petty to claim for. **** happens as has been said. But I can fully understand claiming when you end up losing days of a holiday which you have paid for.

[Smudger]

Cockney Steve

Please name the operators you consider to be "shadier" .

[S.o.S.]

Cockney Steve Please don't.

Everyone does know that they are responsible for their statements and accusations, as they ticked that box when signing up to be able to post. Do not make allegations that you are not prepared to stand up in court to defend.

[ExXB]

CS, I've just reread your post. I'll leave the discussion on shady operators but would like to comment on your suggestion that "all" the airlines have to do is to put up their fares.

If only it was that easy. The price a passenger pays today is an amount that the airline believes is the maximum amount that customer is willing to pay, including all government/airport fees and charges. If an airline thought it would get away with charging more, they would have already done so. The dirty secret of airline pricing is that fares are not a cost-plus calculation! They can't be.

Adding another cost will not affect the price travellers are willing to pay, it just means that the airline's costs increase, which must be paid out of their share of the total revenues.

[IB4138]

I think you will find that several airlines have already been factoring in a charge, in the small print, to cover delay payouts.

Additionally an industry source estimates that if fares were to rise as a result of this ruling, it would be by no more than €3 per sector.