In March my wife and I traveled from our home in Scotland to the Isle of Man to provide support to my sister-in-law who has cancer.
We had booked return flights with Loganair which cost £570. When we arrived at the airport to fly home, our flight was delayed for two and a half hours and then canceled.
There had been no flights to Edinburgh for two days, so we accepted Loganair’s offer for a replacement flight to Birmingham.
The airline said onward transport from Birmingham to Edinburgh would be provided.
But on arrival in Birmingham there were no Loganair staff anywhere to be seen and no information on how to get home.
We ended up booking an Easyjet flight late that evening and hoped that Loganair would cover the cost, which came to £269.94.
I filed a claim on March 27 but received nothing despite calling, emailing and even writing to Loganair’s boss. GS, Edinburgh
In the air: This passenger and his wife were stranded at Birmingham airport because they couldn’t find the transport home that Loganair had promised to provide
Helen Crane, This is Money’s Consumer Champion, replies: Your journey home was a true travel story from hell.
You had arrived at the Isle of Man airport mid-morning, ahead of your 12.30pm flight to Edinburgh, and had only arrived in Birmingham at 5pm – 300 miles from home, and in the wrong direction.
But don’t worry, as the UK261 regulations meant the airline had to take you home.
These apply to all flights departing from a UK or EU airport, as well as flights landing at a UK or EU airport, if operated by a UK or EU based airline.
Under these rules, the airline must look after you during any period of delay, including providing vouchers for food and drinks and accommodation if you are delayed overnight.
If the flight is subsequently cancelled, your airline must find you an alternative flight (that is, unless the cancellation was due to ‘exceptional circumstances’ such as extreme weather or civil unrest, the latter of which befell travelers at the start of the conflict in Iran).
According to the Civil Aviation Authority: ‘Although most airlines will book you on one of their flights to the same destination, if an alternative airline flies there significantly earlier or if other suitable modes of transport are available, you may be entitled to be booked on that alternative mode of transport. You can discuss this with your airline.’
Therefore, you were offered the faster flight to Birmingham and onward transport, which usually means a bus or minibus with other passengers, but if you are lucky this can also be a private taxi.
You went to the Loganair counter in Birmingham expecting to be packed onto a bus.
But even though it was only around 6pm and not the middle of the night, it appeared that the Loganair counter staff had clocked out.
Then you went to the counter of Swissport, Loganair’s ground agent. It said to go to a numbered desk in Departures.
When you did that, no one was there and no one could tell you where to find Loganair staff.
This was especially frustrating because your wife cannot walk far and needs your help getting around the airport.
Luckily you then came across two ‘customer ambassadors’ from Birmingham airport who gave you some advice: get a bed for the night and travel home the next day, or try to get on the 9.30pm Easyjet flight to Edinburgh and claim your money back.
The Aviation Authority says: ‘If your airline cannot or does not want to organize care for you, you can arrange this yourself and claim the costs for this later from your airline.’
Two seats on this flight, with hand luggage, cost €269.94 and you were finally on your way home.
You quickly applied for a refund online with Loganair, which included the flight costs, drinks and snacks at Isle of Man airport, and a meal and drinks in Birmingham while you waited for the Easyjet flight.
This amounted to a total of €69.15, so a total compensation of €339.09. Under UK261 rules, you were also owed £220 each in statutory compensation for the cancellation.
These amounts vary depending on the distance of the original flight and the delay you experienced in reaching your destination airport.
But apart from an automated confirmation email, you didn’t hear anything back.
You called Loganair customer service throughout April, May and June, but each time you were told that the agents were very busy clearing a backlog and that they would call you back in due course, which they never did.
When you asked to speak to the person handling your claim directly, you were told this was not possible.
In June you wrote to Loganair Ltd CEO Luke Farajallah at the head office in Glasgow but again no response was received.
You then contacted me in July. I have contacted Loganair and explained what I believe you were entitled to.
The airline declined to discuss your case with me, saying it does not comment on individual customer complaints.
However, it was said that you would be contacted directly to resolve the issue, which seemed the best thing I could do under the circumstances.
I told you to expect a call, so I was surprised when three weeks later you said you still hadn’t heard anything.
After I cross-mailed Loganair, you finally received an offer of compensation.
It offered to pay you and your wife a total of £440 (the statutory cancellation fee of £220 each) or 28,500 Loganair loyalty points.
You told me you plan to take the points as they can be converted to Avios 1:1 and could be worth over £440 depending on how you spend them.
The good news is that this covers the €339.09 you lost out of pocket as a result of the cancellation, and €100 on top of that.
However, I still believe that the airline should directly reimburse you for the £269.94 you spent on the Easyjet flights to take you from Birmingham to Edinburgh.
It had a duty to take you to Edinburgh airport, and if the bus wasn’t there then I think paying for the flight you had to book is part of that.
The compensation of £220 per person will be paid to all passengers and is not related to the actual amount spent; it is compensation on top of the inconvenience.
Since the airline does not want to discuss your case with me, I cannot verify whether it intends to do so.
It is always disappointing when companies are not transparent when something goes wrong, but you told me that you will take action yourself.
I’m glad I could help get things off the ground.
