Originally Posted by
NickB
Well, they would say that wouldn't they? They are entirely opposed to the legislation and are trying to argue that they are hard done by, so of course they are going to say that it is "punitive". It is a bit like asking Putin whether he thinks the Russian invasion of Crimea was legitimate or not. You are not going to get a particularly enlightening answer.
From an airline point of view, the legislation has significantly changed in 10 years from punitive compensation payable where an airline took a commercial decision to overbook a flight or cancel a flight due to low loads, to having to pay punitive compensation where a flight is delayed because of a technical problem with the engine (that wasn't planned for).
Originally Posted by
kanderson1965
The solution is easy, the airlines should shoulder the compensation for delay/cancellation regardless of the cause.
I totally agree. If I had the task of rewriting the legislation now, I would propose higher levels of punitive compensation for denied boarding, and smaller levels of compensation with higher time thresholds for all delays or cancellations, whatever the reason. Consumers would know exactly where they stand (without needing to resort to court claims) and airlines focused on operational excellence would see improved profitability.
Looking at the 2013 stats, ryanair had 0.48% of flights delayed by more than 3 hours, so assuming a €150 automatic compensation for each passenger would cost approx €0.75 averaged across all passengers (i.e. well below their current surcharge - though I haven't included any duty of care costs).