Ryanair is receiving backlash following a terrifying experience passengers had at Hamburg Airport. A passenger’s mother was left stranded and without her luggage. She missed the flight, even though her bags were loaded on the plane and flying away without her. At first, Ryanair told the passenger that the bag had been taken off the flight. In a settlement agreement without any admission of fault, the airline eventually conceded that this was not true. Failure to do so led to a domino effect of anchor oversight that brought distress and hardship to this family.
The episode was triggered when Ryanair failed to provide the requisite special assistance in getting the passenger’s mother. She has severe enough hearing loss that she cannot hear boarding announcements. Despite Ryanair’s claims that their contract included special assistance as part of the booking, the responsibility was reportedly assigned to a third-party handler, AHS. This lack of coordination led to the passenger’s mother missing her flight. Her luggage was left to go wherever it wished—to the UK!
Ryanair in turn took a hard line that special assistance should be the duty and onus of third parties. The airline returned fire by saying this should be in the government’s task.
“The airline is only responsible for special assistance whilst you are on the flight,” – Gary Rycroft
Ryanair’s chief communications officer defended the temporary shambles, putting the responsibility on AHS. AHS is the third-party contractor for all special assistance at the airport. The passenger was still understandably upset even after receiving this explanation. Beyond these increased costs as they worked to book a new flight and return their mother home safely,
The repercussions of this oversight were far-reaching. With no warning, the passenger had to spend to get new replacement flights, and pay for hire car too. They addressed the organizational and logistical storms that Ryanair’s mistake whipped up. As if the ordeal wasn’t bad enough, over the weekend the nightmare continued as they tried to locate the lost bags.
Ryanair’s decision not to refund the passenger for the flight she missed after being incorrectly denied boarding, or for any additional costs incurred, added insult to injury. Our passenger-turned-protagonist took the initiative, taking the company to small claims court to pursue her claim. They used infringement of EU regulation 300/2008 as the grounds for their case.
In defence, Ryanair claimed the public announcement made at the airport should have triggered special assistance teams. They stressed how important clear communication is to building passenger support.
“It is the airport who are responsible up to you getting on the aircraft and after you disembark, and the airline does not have contractual responsibility to supervise all aspects of it.” – Gary Rycroft
This anti-funding stance has sparked a robust counter argument. The onus now falls to airlines and third-party ground handlers to provide seamless travel experiences for passengers requiring accommodations.