London – Tens of thousands of airline passengers were dealt a further blow today after Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said he will defy rules on paying full compensation to travellers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud.
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The budget carrier warned customers it will not be held liable for their hotel and restaurant bills after governments across Europe shut down airspace for six days.
Mr O’Leary said he would wait for his day in court and only reimburse travellers the original price of their air fare and no more – a blatant refusal to abide by strict EU consumer rules: ‘There’s no legislation designed that says any airline getting a fare of 30 euro (£26) should be reimbursing passengers many thousands of euro for hotel accommodation. It’s absurd.’
His warning came after the transport secretary admitted the government was ‘too cautious’ in imposing the blanket six-day flight ban while the head of the Civil Aviation Authority defended his actions in closing the airspace for son long.
The admission will enrage the thousands of passengers who are continuing to face delays despite the reopening of all British airports.
He is absolutly right….the European regulators will bankrupt the few airlines left on the continent making money. When you fly, this is a risk you willingly assume…if not, take the train.
He’s right. The closure was not his fault, there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, so why should he pay for it? Let the government pay for it, since they caused the loss. Making him pay is a fundamental breach of his human rights.
He’s 1000% Right!! Enough with this absurdity of trying to blame the world for everyone’s problems and trying to sue and milk companies out of thier last dollar!!
What the heck were the airlines supposed to do? Of course it’s frustrating AND COSTLY to be stranded, but what can you do? Who pays for you mechanic everytime your car breaks down? Who pays for you dentist when you need a cavity fileed? Come on people stop whining and get on with it…..
Can’t travelers take out insurance in case things don’t go as planned?
They should sue G-d for the volcano and for the people who coun’t attend a tenoyim during this period.
I am going to sue Ford because I got a flat tire going to the airport so I missed my plane, and then missed the important sales appointment I had, and I am sure I would have made a tremendous lucrative business deal, and I would have had alot of money and I wouldv’e bought many properties and would have made a shopping center and would have …… Total bill I am suing Ford for $650 million.
Does this sound like the Chad Gadya
And he’ll have the chutzpah to complain when his business slows to a trickle because people don’t want to fly Ryanair anymore.
He is right, but the British AIrways offered by son and his family of 5 rooms at a hotel free of charge, and now they rescheduled him for another flight without any additional cost.
#2
All the taxpayers will have to cough up the money ,probably by next year.
This is the guy who now charges 1 pound to “spend a penny”. However, in this case he’s right. But when my daughter, who left 2 hours to get to her local airport 1/2 hour from home, missed her flight by 10 minutes because of a massive traffic accident, Ryan Air wouldn’t help her & made her pay for 4 new tickets.
Buyer beware! Ryan Air is the worst.
Most insurance policies are refusing to payout saying “we are not liable for acts of god”
between me and all of u,if u were the ones who were stranded for 6 days,we wud be singing a different tune
The volcano eruption is considered by the world a natural disaster (even though we Yidden know the Aibershter firt de velt) How can airlines be responsible for a volcanic eruption and Ash spewed in the skies across Europe. They did what they had to do. Would you like the airlines to risk flying in the dusty Clouds and G-d forbid
have an accident. Human Nature kicks in and wants to blame someone for
all the delays….but the airlines are not to blame. Hope everyone is safe
and sound at home soon.
We didn’t blame nor are we angry at Virgin Atlantic. For the 1st 5 days their customer service was silent, but that’s another story. We took out insurance. We’re angry at the fact that the whole of London was doing nothing for stranded travelers. We were returned to the hotel after a bus tour. After daily visits to reservation to extend our stay, to confirm rates aiding in our decision to stay there, we went to check out 30 minutes prior to our transfer to the airport only to be handed a bill with higher rates than we were quoted. The hotel bill ended up using our entire insurance allowance for hotel, food and transportation. While at home people were telling us in Florida, stranded passengers were being given free hotels and free tickets to the theme parks in Orlando. We didn’t receive one break until we got back to the states and the car park discounted the additional days our car was there. Yes as travelers you assume risk, but as a family of 5 that have saved for years to take a vacation of a lifetime, having taking the precautions we thought we should have….it will be a long time before we leave home again..