David Taylor, 64, and his partner Anna Prince, 54, were flying home from Kalamata, Greece, to London Gatwick on Saturday 29 September 2018. Their midday flight was delayed, resulting in the couple landing in the UK at 2.15am the following morning.
The couple were told conflicting information at the time of the delay. They were first told that the delay was due to a hurricane alert, despite other aircrafts taking off and landing the whole time they were stranded in the airport. They were then told that their flight had been re-routed and that the delay was due to the flight’s crew going over their allocated working hours.
Bott and Co believe the couple are entitled to 400 Euros each in compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 as the airline had not put reasonable measures in place in anticipation of a crew shortage and also due to the fact that other easyJet flights were taking off and landing.
Excuse Number One
David said: “We were waiting to be called for boarding when we were told that due to a hurricane alert and high winds in the area, it was impossible for our plane to land. This would have been justifiable had there not been other flights landing and taking off all along.”
The airline has also neglected its duties to provide care and assistance and keep passengers informed in this instance. We will continue to fight for David and Anna obtain any compensation that they are rightly entitled to.
The couple were left waiting with no information or easyJet representatives present.
“After four hours we were given a 4.50 euro food voucher each, enough to get us absolutely nothing in an airport! There were no representatives on the ground and different stories were floating around amongst passengers.”
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Excuse Number Two And Three
“We then found out from other passengers that our scheduled flight had been re-routed to Athens and that there was no available crew to come to Kalamata as the crew on the previous flight had gone over their allocated working hours.
It was just a case of sitting and waiting, not knowing what was going on”
After waiting for over five hours, David and Anna were told that they’d have to board a coach to Athens.
After four hours we were given a 4.50 euro food voucher each, enough to get us absolutely nothing in an airport!
“In Athens, we weren’t offered any information or refreshments. After four more hours we boarded a plane with a completely different flight number.When we arrived home to London in the early hours of the morning there was no offer of assistance in getting home and we ended up forking out £90 on a taxi.”
No Confidence To Approach Airline Direct
Once home, the couple went over what had happened and concluded that the various excuses for the delay didn’t stack up.
“We wanted to apply for compensation but had absolutely no confidence whatsoever to go to easyJet direct and so after doing some research online, we made a claim with Bott and Co.”
Excuse Number Four
The airline has continued to dispute the claim, despite Bott and Co acting on their behalf and believing the couple have a valid claim for the delay. Due to the flight number changing at the time, easyJet are now saying compensation is not eligible because David and Anna weren’t on the flight’s manifest, a fourth excuse not to pay out!
David said: “I was shocked when easyJet denied compensation due to us not being on the flight’s manifest. Not only is this due to their mess and the flight number changing but it is cause for concern. Surely it is a safety risk that we weren’t on the flight’s manifest.”
Undeterred, Bott and Co have issued court proceeding against the airline.
Coby Benson, Flight Delay Compensation Solicitor at Bott and Co said: “easyJet have given David and Anna mixed bag of excuses for the flight delay, which has caused confusion and frustration for them. They just want a straight answer.
Contingency plans should be in place for crew going over their allocated working hours. Also, we’ve taken a look at the weather that day and due to other flights departing and arriving, we’re confident the cause for the delay was not weather related.
The airline has also neglected its duties to provide care and assistance and keep passengers informed in this instance.
We will continue to fight for David and Anna obtain any compensation that they are rightly entitled to.”
David concluded: “In this day and age there’s no excuse for what we went through. It’s been a whole year since the delay and easyJet are still denying responsibility.”