If a landmark case against British Airways or easyJet is successful, millions of passengers may be compensated for delayed flights.
British Airways and easyJet have been fighting to dismiss the case. This could force airlines to pay hundreds of millions to passengers for late flights.
Both carriers are being sued by the High Court for allegedly failing to compensate passengers whose flights have been severely delayed or cancelled.
It could lead to a major overhaul of how passengers are reimbursed when their travel plans are disrupted, since they won’t have to submit claims on their own.
The lawyers have identified as many as 100,000 flights that have been either delayed or canceled since 2016. This could land BA and easyJet a bill for at least £100m.
The case, if successful, could pave the path for huge payouts in the industry and raise the stakes for airlines that are most affected by cancellations and delays.
If their flight is delayed for more than three-hours, passengers are entitled to compensation up to £520. However, it’s the responsibility of the passenger to contact an airline to file a claim.
It has been noted that few travellers have taken advantage of the right to compensation.
This week, BA and easyJet are going to try to defend themselves in a court hearing lasting two days. The airlines claim that the lawsuit was “misconceived”, and is an attempt to make money from passengers by lawyers.
The pandemic is expected to reignite the discussion about chronic travel disruptions, which have been a major issue since staff shortages and chaos in air traffic control caused delays and cancellations.
BA cancelled over 4,000 flights in the UK from airports during the last year, more than twice as many as easyJet.
The director of policy, advocacy and consumer group Which? responded to the first claim last year. Rocio Concha stated: “While airlines have a legal obligation to inform passengers about their rights to assistance and compensation when things go wrong we often hear that they are not being done.
The UK’s weak protection of passenger rights is once again exposed by the fact that this case was brought.
BA’s new chief Sean Doyle has been trying to overhaul the company since he took over late 2020.
Last month, BA was again under scrutiny after a technical problem in its baggage system caused some passengers to be forced to fly without suitcases and others were delayed by hours.
BA and easyJet both instructed City law firms on how to combat the class action that is brewing, brought by a litigator-funded individual.
EasyJet’s spokesperson said: “Not to mention that we do not believe there is any legal or procedural foundation for this action, but this action has been brought to profit from each claim by taking a percentage of the compensation when there are easy and existing routes available to eligible customers in order to receive 100% of their compensation.”
BA’s spokesperson said that they adhere to their obligations under the Regulation. This claim is not based on a legal basis and we have filed a motion to strike it down, along with easyJet.
We will defend our position in any case. To receive full payment, customers can submit compensation claims directly online or via our customer service team.
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