The UK Civil Aviation Authority has moved to clarify its advice to passengers on their rights to compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, following the ruling in the Jet 2 v Huzar case.
The CAA has apologised that their “earlier advice was not clear” after stating that the decision was unlikely to affect claims that airlines had rejected prior to the landmark ruling.
The CAA is now advising the following:
- New claims should be assessed by airlines in the light of the judgement.
- Claims previously put to an airline can be reconsidered in the light of the judgement, if the passenger wishes, unless the passenger agreed a settlement with the airline.
- Claims that have already been decided by a court cannot be taken back to court unless they are within the time limit for an appeal.
The CAA also stressed there could be further developments pending the Jet 2 appeal, which has been taken to the Supreme Court.
"Airlines might delay processing claims until the outcome is known," it said. "Passengers therefore have a choice: either to ask and wait for their airline to reconsider their claim in the light of the judgement, or to take their claim to court."
Last week (June 11), the Court of Appeal ruled that ordinary technical problems that cause flight disruption, such as component failure and general wear and tear, should not be considered “extraordinary circumstances”.
This means that airlines can only cite technical faults as a reason for not paying compensation if the fault was originally caused by an event that was “out of the ordinary”, so technical faults such as a part on the aircraft failing before departure will generally not be considered extraordinary circumstances.