Originally Posted by KeaneJohn

Before the days of EU261 when JER flights left from gatE 55 at LGB N I was booked on the last flight to JER. The agent could not switch the doors to departure mode (they were set on arrival) so there was a delay in boarding and departure. We were due to arrive in Jersey about 2 mins after their curfew, the captain said they would let us in but they didn’t and we literally saw them switch the runway lights off so bSckmto Gatwick we went. There was of course no duty of care and we were rebooked the following day.

I booked a room at the then Sofitel and when I got home I send a letter to Gatwick Airport asking for a refund of the hotel and a refund of the passenger facility charge as I’d expect an airport to know how to open doors if they wanted to charge me for using them. The replied apologising for the delay but wouldn’t be refunding me anything, I sent a letter before action reminding them that the costs were incurred wholly as a result of them not beINg able to open doors to the gate to board An aircraft and I got a cheque back within 5 days rounded up.

On the tv this morning Simon Calder had said that he thought people would have a strong case if they allowed the 3 hours that MAN CEO says people should allow and still missed their flight but there was no legal precedent, There’s quite a few stories of people allowing 4 or more hours and still missing their flights. One Ryanair flight had 20 people missed it as it had pushed back but it returned to the gate due to a medical emergency. All the passengers were disembarked so the 20 people that originally missed the flight thiught they’d be allowed to board but were surprised that that they were still denied as fuel, weight and balance had been calculated and wouldn’t be changed