Airline gets fined

[expat]

Currently Ryan Air (and some times even some of the big players) have been cancelling flights that have not had enough people on them to make them profitable.

Good point. No, I wouldn't say that's reasonable. I'd say in such a case they should be obliged to compensate those with whom they have broken a deal, for what it actually costs those people and not just for the cost of the unused ticket.

That would of course alter the arithmetic and they might decide that it wasn't worth cancelling it after all.

[tim123]

Good points. But safety and cancellations are not quite the same. Safety is definitely inside the "minimum that a company must deliver": reliability might be; but generosity when it goes wrong is definitely something the customer might be prepared to trade on, because it is really only a form of insurance. If I'm quite prepared to accept that a cancelled flight means no help out from the airline at all, is this not a deal that they and I should be free to make if we want?).

So, is this not a deal that you should be free to make with the seller of a Video? Yes?

But the state doesn't let you. It insists that when you buy a Video you are entitled to a guarantee that it works to a minimum standard.

As I said, these rules have come about, not because the nanny state interfered in the market of its own volition, but because after years of being ripped off by being sold duff electronic goods, consumers demanded it.

The state is just geting in early with insisting on 'travel guarentees'

But that's the cruel world, Ryanair didn't invent that;

This isn't a reason for not attempting to legislate a fairer world.

and if you in effect want me to pay more for my flights in order to cover those who might suffer more, that's arguable but at least admit that you're advocating Socialism, not minimum allowable behaviour from companies.

I refer to this as 'fairness'. You can call it what you like. It doesn't change the fact that I think that some things in the world should be fairer. This is a simple 'purchase' we are talking about, not wealth re-distribution. I don't think that you can infer my views on the latter, from my views on the former!

The outward/return bit doesn't always apply though: with Ryanair and Easyjet, and now also with many low-price fares on regular airlines, you can book eacj leg separately, so there is no out and return. I do that anyway, more because it's usually easier to cancel/change before the travel unit has begun (whether the travel unit is a single or a return).

From an insurance pov you are always making one outbound and one return trip (from the country you permanently reside in back to the county you permanently reside in). (You may make some other trips in between) You cannot get insurance that covers you for the consequential costs of failure of the return flight.

tim