Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
“We can guarantee that we’ve done everything within our control to ensure that there’s resilience built within the system,” said Garry Wilson, chief executive of easyJet Holidays, this week.
Mr Wilson runs the package holiday division of Britain’s biggest budget airline, and is not directly responsible for how it runs. But talking to the BBC’s transport correspondent, Katy Austin, on Wednesday he was clear that disruption could still occur from sources “such as air-traffic control delays or airport infrastructure”.
The aim, said Mr Wilson: “To ensure that where there are interruptions to the normal service that we’ve got enough information that we can pass to customers.”
The Civil Aviation Authority joined in this laudable aim on Thursday. In an open letter to the nation’s airlines, the regulator said: “We want to ensure that passengers are able to access information about their rights as easily as possible in the event of disruption.”
“Ensure you have appropriate resources in place at airports and call centres to support passengers and provide any assistance required.”
Alice Hickson’s adventure at Gatwick didn’t quite reflect this good intentions. Booked with a group of friends to fly to Palma, the London student arrived at the airport last Sunday evening at 7.30pm for a 9.55pm flight. “On time” soon changed to a departure time of 11.06pm: annoying, but typical of the way delays can build up during the day.
Eleven minutes before that promised departure, passengers started getting text messages saying the flight had been delayed overnight.
“On the easyJet app, there was some guidance for if your flight had been delayed. It said that the airline will find a hotel for you, and that we’d receive all live updates,” says Ms Hickson.
“For this reason, we didn’t make any effort to seek alternative arrangements because we thought the airline would have it under control, and would probably have better authority in obtaining hotel rooms. We stayed put in the departure lounge, and a few water bottles were handed out.
“Finally, at 1.18am, we had another text from easyJet saying that they were unable to find any hotel rooms in the area, and that we should make all our own arrangements, which they’d refund us for.
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