LONDON - After miscalculating the planning of pilots' holidays, Ryanair has announced the cancellation of up to 2,100 flights over the next six weeks; a decision that will affect around 400,000 passengers.
Thousands of angry travellers have taken to social media to express their fury. Some have complained about vacation plans that have been ruined just 24 hours before takeoff. Others have tweeted about being stuck in remote airports, left waiting for a flight home for up to three days.
"Ryanair, for a low fare, seems to sell not only budget flights but also poor quality service," said Marius Stonkus, the CEO of SKYCOP.
"Based on customer watchdog Which? analysis, Ryanair ignores more than half of all customer complaints. Which? revealed that in 2016 Ryanair's decision to refuse compensation was wrong in 77% of cases."
If your flight has been cancelled, Ryanair offers options. Affected travellers can choose between a full refund and an alternative flight ticket. However, there is no information about the moral compensation. Under EU law, every traveller is entitled to up to €600 compensation for a cancelled, delayed or overbooked flight. Every passenger who wasn't notified of their flight cancellation through Ryanair at least two weeks prior to departure, is entitled to compensation.
SKYCOP, the international platform fighting for passenger rights, says: "This Ryanair move will cost the company around 53 million euros in compensations. As the airline has avoided informing their customers about the compensation, this sum depends solely on the passengers themselves. Depending on whether they have been informed in prior and flight distance, affected travellers can get up to £600 compensations."
SKYCOP responded to the situation and sent an official letter to Ryanair with their suggestions on how to optimise compensation reimbursement processes. Every day for the next six weeks, Ryanair will cancel 40-50 flights, and their office should be ready to promptly deal with an accumulating pile of claims.
The Government is being warned to prioritise the negotiation of a new air transport service agreement with the EU in order to keep planes in the air after Brexit. Other agreements will also need to be struck, including a replacement for the ‘open skies’ agreement with the US. Ryanair has stated that legal certainty must be achieved by autumn 2018 to avoid disruption to schedules from March 2019 onwards.
A cost analysis of the ash cloud incident in 2010, when flights into and out of the UK were grounded for most of the month of April, suggests that post-Brexit cancellations could cost as much as £3.3 million per day, in lost GDP – but only if the delay was short lived. Included in this analysis is lost revenue due to cancelled and missed bookings and lost revenue at airports due to grounded flights and a fall-off in passenger numbers. If aircraft are grounded for a longer period, there could be significant social and financial implications.
Mark Waterman, a management consultant at Vendigital added: “The airline industry makes a significant contribution to UK GDP. For example, air freight accounts for just half of one percent of international goods movements into and out of the UK by weight, and 25 per cent by value, which amounts to around £180 billion.
“Three quarters of foreign visitors arrive in the UK by air, supporting a tourism industry which employs 480 thousand people and generates 20 billion GDP. These visitors use airlines that employ 200 thousand people and generate £11 billion GDP and they arrive in airports that employ another 440 thousand people and generate another £21 billion GDP.
“Given the incredibly high stakes involved it is unlikely that we will actually see aircraft grounded and some sort of deal will have to be struck, perhaps in true EU fashion at the eleventh hour.
“However, given the slow and fractious nature of the Brexit negotiations thus far it is important that operators don’t sit back and wait. Airlines need to develop contingency plans now and as well as keeping a close eye on costs, they should consider altering their operating model. Easyjet’s recent decision to establish a new hub in Austria to keep flights moving after Brexit could prove a wise move.”
