I’ve touched on the subject of European Legislation EU261 in the past on LARA’s digital newsletter; thinking (and hoping) that just maybe a bit of common sense will come into play.
It’s concerning the compensation that regional airlines and LCCs have to pay to its passengers if their flight is cancelled at short notice, delayed by more than three hours, or they’re denied boarding through no fault of their own, even if these situations are out of the control of the airline.
Perhaps, I thought, the suits, who it appears know very little about how regional or LCCs operate, may have read my earlier gripe and thought: “Ah yes, we’ll need to look at that ruling.”
Sadly, it appears they haven’t, as the situation got even more stupid this week. Regional carrier Danish Air Transport (DAT) was instructed to pay compensation to Jack the dog, for a delay of several hours to his flight. Now, don’t go assuming “Jack the dog” is some movie pirate, a DJ or a reality TV star, he’s actually a real tail-wagging dog. Which is probably wagging that much more, following the likelihood he’ll get reimbursed his €27 for his ticket, due to the technical delay his flight suffered. Jack’s owners have already received their €250 each for the delay. But it now appears under the European ruling, “anything with a pulse” can claim money back if their flight is delayed.
We’ve heard so much over the years, particularly in the United Kingdom, of idiotic rulings stemming from the European Union as to how things should be run within the bloc. From the height of our streetlights through to the shape of our bananas, the latter must not have “malformations and abnormal curvature” or “children under eight cannot blow up balloons”. By all accounts it’s one of the reasons that Brexit happened, as the UK wanted rid of such silly controls.
But regardless of funny fruit and uninflated balloons, connectivity across Europe needs to be maintained by air. If not simply for business growth. Perhaps it’s time those that brought in EU261 wake-up, smell their EU-approved coffee, and start assisting regional and LCCs for the better. There’s only so many that can be forced into bankruptcy due to this ridiculous ruling.
As for Jack, spend the lot on bones and dog treats!
I’d also like to take this opportunity to pass on my thanks to Kimberley Young, our Senior Reporter at HMG, who leaves us this week to take her journalistic skills into a new field. From my first day on LARA, nothing was too much trouble for Kimberley, who patiently and kindly answered my barrage of “what, where and how do I” questions. The office just won’t be the same, but go and excel, you’ll do great out there Kimmy.
