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Easyjet cancelled my wife and infant son’s flight from TLV-MAN tonight ( U22262). The reason given was Air traffic control restrictions.
I wonder if there is any way to verify this info because no other flights have been cancelled leaving TLV. I have seen others mention that airlines are sometimes not so honest with cancellation reasons.Having spent a long time on the phone she has been re routed on a flight tomorrow albeit with a stopover. I asked what the rules are for accomodation for tonight & didn’t get a straight answer.
She is currently staying in a Holiday apartment. All I was told is to keep all reciepts and upload online. However their website indicates they only pay out for the equivalent of 3 star accommodation so wondering where I will stand with just extending her for another night which will cost circa £300.
She has Amex platinum if this helps (although outbound was booken on plat & inbound on bapp)
Thanks…On departure from Israel, you have the additional protection of their Aviation Services Law. It isn’t up to the airline to dictate how much you can spend on a hotel, it’s a matter of what’s reasonable, proportionate and necessary and staying in existing accommodation rather than moving, particularly with a baby should meet those criteria. EasyJet could challenge this and it will obviously be on a pay and claim basis. The reason for the cancellation only affects compensation, not the requirement for EasyJet to provide accommodation and meals. If they refuse a claim you can escalate to AviationADR and EasyJet will need to provide evidence to support the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ compensation get out.
Thanks @JDB I wasn’t aware of the Aviation Services Law.
I am wondering in general if their are any kind of parameters for Air traffic control restrictions/cancellations. It seems to be very vague and open to abuse by airlines as their is very little transparency with reasons given for cancellationsThanks @JDB I wasn’t aware of the Aviation Services Law.
I am wondering in general if their are any kind of parameters for Air traffic control restrictions/cancellations. It seems to be very vague and open to abuse by airlines as their is very little transparency with reasons given for cancellationsI wouldn’t get too hung up about the reason – airlines do have to justify refusal of compensation for ‘extraordinary circumstances’ but will rarely do so to the passenger, but only when pressed by a court or ADR service. The Israeli law rights are in addition to your UK261 rights and whatever the reason for the cancellation, you are entitled to the cost of accommodation/food etc.
Have a read of this
https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/delays-and-cancellations
https://www.flightstats.com/v2/flight-details/U2/2261?year=2023&month=6&date=11&flightId=1194202792
Seems like a last minute cancellation of the outbound which could easily be due to a slot delay (it initially posted a 1hr delay then it looks like it got delayed further before being cancelled.
I believe that at least the cabin crew on these flights operate as a turnaround and this doesn’t leave much tolerance for a delay or the crew will time out and the flight will be stuck downroute for rest. So it’s easier just to cancel it unfortunately .
I know they have recently changed some flights to Egypt to have a crew change downroute to avoid this happening but I suspect Tel Aviv may be too expensive/complicated with the security to do this.
https://www.flightstats.com/v2/flight-details/U2/2261?year=2023&month=6&date=11&flightId=1194202792
Seems like a last minute cancellation of the outbound which could easily be due to a slot delay (it initially posted a 1hr delay then it looks like it got delayed further before being cancelled.
I believe that at least the cabin crew on these flights operate as a turnaround and this doesn’t leave much tolerance for a delay or the crew will time out and the flight will be stuck downroute for rest. So it’s easier just to cancel it unfortunately .
I know they have recently changed some flights to Egypt to have a crew change downroute to avoid this happening but I suspect Tel Aviv may be too expensive/complicated with the security to do this.
Thanks so much. I’m a long time silent lurker. It’s nice to experience 1st hand how helpful people are.
What does that mean in terms of EC261. If the cancellation due to slot/atc restrictions was on the outbound surely that doesn’t preclude the inbound from compensation?
@Ingking unfortunately, per the decision in WZ v Austrian Airlines (at the fifth question), ‘extraordinary circumstances’ can theoretically apply for delays caused three rotations back and it is for a local court to determine the applicability based on the specific facts.
It’s a funny one really – a 2hr ATC delay is hardly extraordinary and should Easyjet have arrangements at a major base of theirs (or schedule the crew with a stopover downroute) to ensure that a flight doesn’t get cancelled because of it? Probably. But I think you’d have a very tough time getting them to pay out over it
I applied for compensation for the above flight. After being rejected due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ I took it to ADR. I did this because I basically wasn’t inclined to take the extraordinary circumstances claim at face value & thought it was worth a shot.
Response was as follows:“Our assessment team have had another look at your claim request and investigated all of the information available but have confirmed to further explain what happened on the day; widespread thunderstorms across much of Europe, particularly in southern parts of the UK, caused air traffic control restrictions which substantially regulated the air space. This resulted in long delays to flights as aircraft waited for air space ‘slots’ to operate, sometimes for several hours. These delays caused crew to run out of their legal hours to operate and also pushed flights into night curfews at numerous airports. This widespread disruption unfortunately impacted your flight, and we had no option but to cancel it. We do take reasonable measures to avoid delays and cancellations to our flights by having replacement crews and spare aircraft available in our network. However, in the circumstances, all our replacement crew and spare aircraft had already been deployed due to the disruption caused by thunderstorms and air traffic control restrictions on the day, compensation is not available under the Regulation. We realise this is disappointing but as the claim / case doesn’t fit the eligibility criteria our team are unable to reconsider this decision further and your claim / case will now be closed.”
I haven’t had to use ADR before but I’m assuming it’s now game over and not to waste any more time on this.
Would be amazing if some of the very knowledgeable ppl on here cld confirm that.The way I read it the flight could have ran if EasyJet had deployed more crew and had enough planes to take care of the thunderstorms that were known to them.
They decided to cancel some flights so others could run.
Don’t know what is extraordinary here.
You can still take them to the ADR explaining by their own admission they didn’t have enough crew members to run their services.
The way I read it the flight could have ran if EasyJet had deployed more crew and had enough planes to take care of the thunderstorms that were known to them.
They decided to cancel some flights so others could run.
Don’t know what is extraordinary here.
You can still take them to the ADR explaining by their own admission they didn’t have enough crew members to run their services.
@yonasi – the post isn’t at all clear, but does say “I took it to ADR” , so if that is the case then it is the end of the road unless the OP wants to take it to MCOL, which would be fairly pointless unless there were any new evidence.
Either way, I think you are confusing crew shortage/absence/illness with a crew running out of legal hours as a result of ‘extraordinary circumstances’. The former can virtually never be classified as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ but where bad weather causes ATC restrictions/limits on takeoffs/landings, airlines are free to choose which flights to cancel to comply with the requirements and crewing can be a consideration. When they are operating from a congested airport, an airline also can’t be expected make up the lost flights by delaying them so cancellations are inevitable and the law doesn’t expect or require an airline to have an endless supply of aircraft and staff.
Thunderstorms in the summer are not extraordinary.
Thunderstorms in the summer are not extraordinary.
If such thunderstorms or other repeated cases of extreme weather as experienced this summer cause ATC restrictions on flights, that is considered ‘extraordinary circumstances’. If an airline is obliged, involuntarily, and for reasons outside its control, to cancel or delay flights it seems quite reasonable that they don’t have to pay compensation.
Thanks all. Think I’m just going to leave this one.
Not got the time or knowledge to pursue any further
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