If you have booked a flight with Ryanair within the next six weeks, you may be affected by an initiative by the airline to improve punctuality by canceling up to 50 flights every day during that time while simultaneously informing passengers on very short notice.
Warning: Some Ryanair Flights Being Canceled on Very Short Notice — To Improve Punctuality
“The move could affect up to 285,000 passengers, who will be offered alternative flights or refunds”, according to this article from BBC News. “Ryanair said that less than 2% of its flights would be cancelled and the move would help it hit its annual punctuality target of 90%.”
FlyerTalk member TographerE is one of the customers of Ryanair who was directly affected by this initiative, as TographerE received an e-mail message on Thursday, September 14, 2017 from Ryanair stating that a flight had been cancelled and blamed it on industrial action. “All I could do was rebook the flight, which they did for free, and get a train from Tours to La Rochelle earlier in the day. So I flew earlier but the inconvenience that put onto to me was a nightmare. And all because of staff holidays!!!!!!”
Summary
I can understand an airline wanting to improve its punctuality overall — but not at the expense of informing customers on such short notice and thereby significantly inconveniencing them. If management at Ryanair truly believes that this initiative is necessary, then they are at least obligated to give their customers notice with enough time so that either alternative plans can be executed — or passengers get a timely refund.
If you are affected as a passenger by having your flight canceled as a result of this initiative by Ryanair, review European Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 to know what are your rights:
- You are entitled to assistance and compensation if the disruption was within control of the airline
- Airlines are required to offer full refunds — paid within seven days — or rebooking of a flight for a flight cancelled on short notice
- You can also claim compensation
- Cancellation amounts are:
- 250 euros for flights of 1,500 kilometers or fewer
- 440 euros for flights in respect of all flights within the European Union of greater than 1,500 kilometers; and for all other flights between 1,500 kilometers and 3,500 kilometers — with certain exceptions and conditions
- 600 euros for long-haul flights — which typically is inconsistent with Ryanair
- Passengers who reach their destination greater than three hours late can be compensated from 200 to 600 euros — depending on the length of flights and delay
Photograph ©2014 by Brian Cohen.
