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Ryanair says "screw you" to stranded passengers - European Union sends them a copy of the law
Ryanair CEO Micheal O'Leary played tough guy this week when he told his customers that he wouldn't pay a penny to cover expenses resulting from being stranded due to the Icelandic Volcano. In statements to the media, he admitted that he was fully aware of EU compensation laws, but chose to ignore them claiming:
Well, unfortunately for Mr O'Leary, there actually is legislation that is designed just for that purpose. In fact, European air travelers are one of the most protected groups of travelers in the world.There's no legislation designed that says any airline getting a fare of 30 euro (£26) should be reimbursing passengers many thousands of euro for hotel accommodation. It's absurd.
As it turns out, European lawmakers may have told Ryanair to re-read the laws he's bound to - because two days after his tough statements, the airline took a u-turn and confirmed that they would indeed be refunding passengers for "reasonably-receipted expenses".
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andrew Apr 24th 2010 3:36PM
why should the airlines pay? It's not their fault a volcano erupted. Shouldn't it be the responsibility of the insurance companies? They're quite happy to take people's money and if people don't take insurance then....well...tough
Scott Carmichael Apr 24th 2010 3:53PM
The airlines should pay because that is what the EU consumer protection laws tell them to do. I agree that it may not be fair, but that is the price of doing business as an airline in Europe.
Richard Apr 24th 2010 4:32PM
I guess if airlines are responsible for paying customers for delays caused by natural events and government agencies, the airlines should buy insurance for that and raise the prices to the flier. Ultimately, the consumer pays.
Scott Carmichael Apr 24th 2010 7:34PM
Most of these events involve a couple of planes, perhaps 1000 passengers. The recent events were unprecedented. Airlines will have to determine what the chances are of this happening again, and whether it makes sense to insure themselves against it.
That said - I fully expect the EU to pick up part of the bill, especially now airlines are claiming the airspace closures were too strict.