Technical Faults in Flight Delay Mother’s Day Gift by Nearly 14 Hours!

A nurse from Weoley Castle had a trip of a lifetime, but it did not go well towards the end, with the airlines she and her children were flying, making them wait for hours. The airline says that they were kept updated on the status of their flight, but that does not take away the fact that the Mother's Day trip was ruined for the family. The flight was grounded for hours due to technical difficulties, because of which she also missed her first day back at work as a community nurse.

Trip gifted by daughters to mother ends on a bitter note

Karen Bushell was gifted a holiday trip to Spain for Mother's Day by her two daughters, Jessica and Kerrie Bushell. They had booked themselves on Ryanair for the return journey, but were in for a rude surprise. The flight was grounded at the Girona airport in Spain for an unending 14 hours. During the time the technical difficulty was being looked into, the family was provided vouchers for refreshments at the airport itself. There was not flight delay refunds or delayed flight compensation offered to them at any point.

If this was not bad enough, she claims that the customer service desk at the airline office hung up on her when she called to complain about the delay once she was back home. She had called to complain on behalf of her daughters as well as herself about the delay.

Airlines offered only refreshment vouchers, no compensation

Karen has two main complaints about the airline and the flight she and her daughters took. Firstly, the fact that they were made to wait for over 14 hours, after initially being informed that it would be an under 10-hour delay spoiled their holiday and all the fun they had. They ended up being stranded in a faraway airport with just a few refreshments at the end of a trip that was supposed to be fun.

Secondly, the fact that the airline customer service chose to hang up on her when she called to complain rather than hear her out and compensate her for the fact that the delay caused her to miss a day at work as a nurse.

Rules for compensation for passengers of delayed flights

Any flight that is delayed for three hours or more and admits that the delay was caused by a technical difficulty with the flight and not unforeseen circumstances or natural calamities has to compensate its passengers for the delay. The delayed flight compensation amount does not depend on the price of the tickets it is calculated on the basis of the distance the flight was meant to cover and the number of hours it has been delayed.

• Flights flying under 1500km, a 3 hour delay cost E250.
• Flights flying up to 3500km or more with a 3 hour delay cost E400.
• Flights of any distance that are delayed for over 4 hours cost E600.

These amounts are the upper limit of what passengers can claim from the airlines.

Since Ryanair itself admitted that the flight was grounded due to a technical difficulty in this case, passengers have every right to claim compensation and the airline cannot refuse them.