9

I am in dispute with Easyjet about a delayed flight, but we have reached an impasse.

My flight was delayed taking off from Gatwick. According to the website flightaware.com it landed at its destination (Malaga) exactly 3 hours and 9 minutes late (here is the link to flightaware's specific flight details in case anyone is interested: http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EZY8611/history/20160327/1605Z/EGKK/LEMG).

As I understand it, this means I am entitled to claim under European Union regulation 261/2004, whereby delays of over 3 hours are eligible for compensation.

However I have received an email from Easyjet customer service today telling me that the flight was only delayed by 2 hours and 59 minutes.

What should I do next? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Improve this question
4
  • And took off 3 hours and 0 minutes late, too.
    – Michael Hampton
    Apr 12, 2016 at 23:51
  • 2
    What is EU261's definition of 'time of departure' and 'time of arrival'? Is 'departure' when the tower clears the plane for pushback, the time the gate agent logs as departed, the time the tower clears the pilot for take off? Likewise for arrival; the time of touchdown, arrival at the gate or parking bay, door opens? There can be fair time differences between these various points.
    – user13044
    Apr 13, 2016 at 3:47
  • I have looked into this question and the wording does not seem to specify exactly what is meant by either time of departure or time of arrival.
    – Harters
    Apr 14, 2016 at 8:59
  • 3
    In your link it's 2 hours 59 minutes delay.
    – Neusser
    Jul 25, 2018 at 8:32

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

I recently came across a site that supposedly automates this whole process ( https://www.getairhelp.com/en ). The article at http://henrikzillmer.com/justice-as-a-service implies that they gather data in an automated way from public data sources about the flight, so it's very hard to argue with it, and they send legally-correct notices to the airline. You may have some luck going with them, but I've never used the site so I have no idea how good it is.

Improve this answer
2
  • Thanks Eugene, if I fail to get anywhere with Easyjet customer service I'll investigate this option. I see they take a % commission at getairhelp on any compensation they win, which I suppose is reasonable for the service they're offering. Would be interested to know if anyone has had positive/negative experiences of using them.
    – Harters
    Apr 14, 2016 at 9:03
  • This is not correct. Getairhelp will run your flight data for a preliminary view of your case without charge. They'll also claim for you without charge. But if a recovery is made, they'll take some percentage of it. Otherwise...how would they stay in business?
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Oct 18, 2019 at 14:28
0

How do you get compensation for this specific delayed flight? You don't because you're not eligible, and Easyjet is correct.

Looking at your link, the scheduled landing was 2035, with the actual landing 2354, a delay of 3 hours and 19 minutes. BUT the scheduled gate arrival was 2055, with the actual gate arrival of 2354: a delay of 2 hours and 59 minutes.

As per the Civil Aviation Authority's webpage:

The delay length is calculated using the time the flight arrives at its destination (this is based on the time at which at least one door of the aircraft is opened) — not the departure time.

emphasis mine

Aircraft door opening sounds to me the same as gate arrival. This was under 3 hours late, and therefore you have no claim.

(NB I have also read Regulation EC 261/2004 which is the law which allows compensation. It does not define where the point of arrival is measured. I, personally, am happy to accept the Civil Aviation Authority as a source of authority for the definition. Note also that at the top of your flightaware link it states the arrival was 2 hours 59 minutes late, and so flightaware also seem to use this definition.)

It's an interesting to note that flightaware has both "landing" and "gate arrival" as 2354, I'd have thought that was a typo. Checking other instances of this flight generally only show a minute's difference, so it sounds plausible.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .