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You, might like to read this:-
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art … wD9F63E6G4
Better to err on the side of caution.
Regards – Matron
…
It’s been raining here this morning. Perhaps we can expect a film of ash to coat everything. Good news for gardeners, window cleaners and car-wash proprietors
…that’s likely to be the case, as here in Cambridgeshire we awoke today [Monday] to find our cars covered with a very fine dark dust and I’ve just noticed our whiter that white UPVC double glazed windows are similarly coated in a thin film of this muck, turning them a shade of grey, particularly on any ledges.
I’m getting very fed up with Iceland. First the Cod War, then keeping our money from the bank fiasco, now this…..
Icelandic Cod is off the menuNo discernible dust here despite the rain
Still, it’s a handy excuse to put off the spring cleaning of windows and sills for yet another week
…why bother, they’ll only get dirty again
..we have a new window cleaner – £4 for a bungalow with loads of windows…
that’s not bad…. he can do it
Ryanair won’t pay a penny in compensation, Michael O’Leary tells stranded passengers
Source: Daily Mail
He’s not a man known for his warmth towards travellers so Michael O’Leary’s latest soundbite will come as no surprise to the tens of thousands of airline passengers affected by this week’s volcanic ash cloud.
The Ryanair boss said he will defy rules on paying full compensation for stranded travellers.
The budget carrier warned customers it will not be held liable for their hotel and restaurant bills after state agencies 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 a blanket six-day ban on flights from British airports.
The admission will enrage the thousands of passengers who are continuing to face delays despite the reopening of all British airports after they were shut by the volcanic ash cloud.
Lord Adonis told the BBC: ‘I think it’s fair to say that we have been too cautious. "We" being the international safety regulators’.
Ryanair carries on average 220,000 passengers on flights across Europe every day, but Mr O’Leary said he was not able to estimate how many of his customers had been left stranded.
He said consumer travel rules for airlines should be updated to put planes on an equal footing with bus, train and ferry operators with the carrier only liable for the original cost of a fare.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said the low cost airline won’t pay any compensation to passengers affected by the ash cloud
Mr O’Leary said blame for the chaos caused by Europe-wide shutdown lay at the door of governments.
He said he accepted airports had to be closed for the first couple of days but after meeting with manufacturers and regulators he questioned whether the near week-long blanket ban was necessary.
Despite British Airways operating long-haul flights from Heathrow and Gatwick – short-haul flights only resumed at 1pm this afternoon.
The airline cancelled about 120 flights this morning but achieved 50 departures by mid-afternoon. A spokesman promised ‘hundreds’ would still operate today.
There were 800 flights at Heathrow, 700 at Gatwick and around 100 at Stansted. Heathrow would normally handle around 1,250 flights a day.
Gatwick had 74 flights cancelled today but expected about 700 of its 800 daily arrivals and departures to go ahead. Fifteen flights arrived late last night. A spokesman said it expected ‘business as usual’ by the end of the week.
Stansted expected about 100 flights of 450 to operate today. Its main operator, Ryanair, announced this afternoon that it would restart flights to the Continent at 5am tomorrow. Domestic flights and those to Ireland would recommence at 5am on Friday.
However, airlines have admitted clearing the backlog could ‘take weeks’ as passengers stranded due to cancellations are told to re-book on the next available flight with priority only given to those with special needs.
"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."
For, once I agree with him: this stupid rule needs modifying by the EU.
If the airline is at fault then, passengers should be compensated.
I am just waiting for the "EU" to start poking their noses into other areas of the travel industry.
Regards – Matron
"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
."
You’d love to know where the press get their information from, writing blatantly incorrect garbage like this.
You’d love to know where the press get their information from,
writing blatantly incorrect garbage like this
.
Anything specific or the whole thing in general?
As with Pompete, I would like to know what is incorrect with the news report.
If I were to use Ryanair in future – which I do not intend to do – I wonder how far a "it is grossly unfair" argument would get me with them if I was attempting to renege on my statutory obligations.
I’m wrong on this, apologies to the article. Never even imagined an airline would be obliged to cover passenger sustenance costs for an extended period due to an unprecedented, unavoidable act of nature that necessitated the cancellation of up to one hundred thousand flights in the same week.
That said I completely agree with O’Leary’s interpretation of things. Hopefully the law will be amended sooner rather than later.
Them’s the rules, though.
And Ryanair has shown its true colours by seeking to bodyswerve those rules and leave its own customers in the sh1t instead.
He who lives by the small print dies by the small print.
Them’s the rules, though.
Is that sufficient justification though, Pru?
I’m no defender of RyanAir, but the law is clearly an ass in this case, for the reasons outlined by Cav. Travel insurance should be compensating passengers, not the airlines, who have zero control over geological activity, or the decision of regulatory authorities to close airspace.
The airlines should have insured themselves against this. If its an EU directive then this should have been covered by catastrophy insurance.
I bet most other airlines have done so too, so why should this slimey mummys boy’s ariline be exempt?
Actually, that’s a better idea, clivex. Surely airlines are insured for such eventualities?
Is that sufficient justification though, Pru?
It is very much sufficient justification in my view. There are plenty of rules and laws that I don’t agree with. If I transgress them I do not say "well I won’t pay up" and leave it for someone else to do it (or, if I did, I would not expect to get away with it).
Ryanair and other airlines may be very justified in challenging this rule. But they are not in any way justified in attempting to pass the responsibility for paying for it after the event onto a guiltless third party.
It speaks volumes for the company’s approach that their first instinct was to dump on its own customers. No amount of backtracking will erase the impression that made.
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