Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has written about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he examines a major travel issue – and what it means for you.
“We can guarantee that we have done everything in our power to ensure the system is resilient,” said Garry Wilson, Chief Executive of easyJet Holidays this week.
Mr Wilson runs the package travel division of Britain’s largest low-cost airline and is not directly responsible for its operations. but speaking to BBC transport correspondent Katy AustinOn Wednesday, he made it clear that there could still be disruptions from sources, “such as delays in air traffic control or airport infrastructure.”
The aim, Mr Wilson said: “To ensure that during disruptions to normal service we have enough information to pass on to customers.”
The Civil Aviation Authority joined this laudable goal on Thursday. In an open letter to the country’s airlinesthe regulator said: “We want to ensure that passengers can access information about their rights as easily as possible in the event of a disruption.”
“Make sure you have appropriate resources at airports and call centers to assist passengers and provide the assistance needed.”
Alice Hickson’s Adventures Gatwick did not fully reflect these good intentions. The London student, who had booked a flight to Palma with a group of friends, arrived at the airport at 7.30pm last Sunday night for a 9.55pm flight. “On time” soon changed to a departure time of 11:06pm: annoying but typical of the way delays can build up throughout the day.
Eleven minutes before the promised departure, passengers received text messages that the flight was delayed overnight.
“There were some indications on the easyJet app if your flight was delayed. It said the airline will find you a hotel and that we would all have live updates,” says Ms Hickson.
“For that reason we didn’t bother to look for alternative arrangements because we thought the airline was in control and probably had better authority in sourcing hotel rooms. We remained seated in the departure lounge and a few bottles of water were distributed.
“Finally at 1:18am we received another text message from easyJet saying that they could not find any hotel rooms in the area and that we should all make our own arrangements which they would reimburse us.
“By that point the trains stopped running, we didn’t have a car to drive home and every single hotel in the area was either booked up or not accepting bookings after midnight. Also, at least 100 people were waiting for taxis, most of which were already booked, so this was hopeless.
“We felt stranded, no shops open, no food, phones dead, nowhere to go.
“It felt desolate and abandoned and like we’d all been discarded.
“In no other public service would it be acceptable to sleep on the floor in a public place. We couldn’t figure out why we were informed so late after all other plans could have been made.
“Fortunately, I can sleep on an airport floor, but other passengers with disabilities or the elderly could never have done so. Their communication was rubbish and the whole situation was unfair.
“I’ve heard by word of mouth that we should be getting at least £150 in compensation for the changed flight but I can’t verify that, I just hope it’s true.”
In fact, easyJet is required to pay each passenger on the Palma flight £220 in cash unless it can show that “extraordinary circumstances” were responsible for the extreme delay.
The airline has actually benefited from Ms Hickson and her friends sleeping on the floor at Gatwick Airport – saving easyJet a fortune to pay for hotel rooms and transport to get passengers there. (One of the many flaws in air passenger rights is the financial benefit to airlines of failing to exercise due diligence.)
An airline spokesman said: “easyJet experienced a disruption to its flight program at Gatwick last night due to a combination of issues affecting operations, including delays in ground handling and airport coaching due to staff illness, resulting in that some crew members were reaching their legal operating hours and some flights affected by airport curfews.
“We deeply regret the impacted customers for the difficulties this will cause.”
Something always goes wrong in aviation, especially when everything is running at full speed in the summer.
But episodes like this suck: not just for the airline brand, but for the entire travel industry. We’ll all fight our way through this summer and almost all get where we need to be.
But come fall, potential travelers may not yet want to discover what “resilience built within the system” actually means.
