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We were due to fly this afternoon with EasyJet but had a cancellation email at 2am this morning citing the below
We’re sorry that your flight has been cancelled. This is due to network wide air traffic control restrictions on the 20th July. As a consequence of this disruption some of our aircraft did not make it back to their base and we have had no option but to cancel your flight.
No doubt they will claim this to be an extraordinary circumstance but it looks ad the reason is because EasyJet does not have crew or available aircraft to operate the flight today – and are citing air traffic control restrictions yesterday but the majority of EasyJet flights operated yesterday and the same today – as there are no air traffic restrictions today
Their flight status page usually says if they’re considering it extraordinary circumstances. If they’re silent on the matter then they seem to pay out
Hope you get rebooked swiftly!
@iandv – I wouldn’t read too much into what is happening to other flights or speculate about easyJet’s staff or aircraft rostering arrangements. All that matters is whether ‘extraordinary circumstances’ apply to your specific flight and easyJet is entitled to claim knock on effects from previous rotations of the aircraft in accordance with Recital 15 of EC261 – “Extraordinary circumstances should be deemed to exist where the impact of an air traffic management decision in relation to a particular aircraft on a particular day gives rise to a long delay, an overnight delay, or the cancellation of one or more flights by that aircraft, even though all reasonable measures had been taken by the air carrier concerned to avoid the delays or cancellations.”
If you doubt the reasons given by easyJet, then you should make a claim and if it is rejected, you then have the option of escalating it to AviationADR who will require proof from easyJet if their rejection is to be upheld.
The decision on compensation is not just whether there were extraordinary circumstances, but also if there were, whether all reasonable actions were taken to avoid a delay. It is fairly clear that ATC restrictions count as extraordinary circumstances. It is still possible that compensation is due if Easyjet should have been able to avoid delaying you. The first and most obvious measure they could take would be having spare aircraft and crew available at their base. If they didn’t, then you could have an arguable case for compensation.
It will depend completely on the details – where were you flying from and to, were there any other options they could have rebooked you on that got you there within the time limits, what flight have they offered you. If you were flying from a tiny airport with 1 flight a day, there is unlikely to have been anything they could or should have done. If your flight was from Gatwick or another big base then they might struggle to say they couldn’t do anything.
JDB is correct about what do do – if you think compensation is due then claim it, challenge a refusal if you don’t agree with it, and take it to ADR if you still don’t agree with a rejection.
If you give more details of the situation you might get more specific advice.
Hi, I’ve now had a response from EasyJet rejecting my claim for the flight from Bristol to Edinburgh on the 21 July. They are citing air traffic control restrictions but nearly all other flights were leaving and departing from Bristol on this day – we had to get another EasyJet flight to Glasgow which got us there 6 hours later than our original
arrival timeWhat should be the next steps or do I not have a case?
To further explain what happened on the day; air traffic control restrictions substantially regulated the air space, which resulted in long delays to flights as aircraft waited for air space ‘slots’ to operate, sometimes for several hours, which meant we had no option but to cancel your flight. 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, these options would not have helped as your flight was cancelled due to air traffic control restrictions.
Impossible for us to know if you have a good case or this is EasyJet trying it on.
However if you aren’t happy with their refusal the next steps have already been clearly set out in previous replies.@iandv – there’s no way of telling whether you have a case or not until EasyJet provides evidence and they will usually only do that when obliged to by AviationADR. I think it is unlikely that EasyJet will change its mind if you challenge this initial decision, but you could try and give them seven days to respond before saying you will escalate to ADR.
The issue of other aircraft flying isn’t really relevant as only what happened to your flight matters and the ATC issues may have occurred on a previous rotation or been specific to your flight – unusual, but not unknown. EasyJet has also left matters suitably vague by not saying when / how ATC restrictions caused your flight cancellation.
If you make a claim to AviationADR it is worth saying that their is/was no apparent ATC issue pertaining at the time of cancellation or planned operation of the flight and their final sentence notwithstanding, no sign of any reasonable measures taken to avoid cancellation.
If you aren’t satisfied with the explanation, there’s nothing to be lost making the claim and it shouldn’t take up too much time.
Thanks @jdb that’s really helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
If you were replying back to EasyJet to respond as you suggested, what would you say in the reply back to them?
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