Passenger takes on Thomson in ‘David versus Goliath’ battle
Thomson Airways is today appealing against a county court decision which forced it to pay compensation to a passenger who complained of a flight delay six years after the incident.
If Thomson fails, the passenger’s lawyers argue the case will open the flood gates to millions of passengers who are entitled to claim up to £4 billion in compensation from airlines for delays going back to 2008.
Passenger James Dawson from Peterborough originally issued proceedings against Thomson Airways in 2012 following a delayed flight from Gatwick to the Dominican Republic in December 2006.
He took Thomson to court after the airline rejected his claim for the eight-hour delay, stating that under international airline law all claims for compensation must be made within two years.
Mr Dawson made the claim under the European Union flight compensation rule 261, which doesn’t state how far back claims can go.
Cambridge County Court accepted Mr Dawson’s argument that section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 gives UK consumers six years to bring a claim for flight delay compensation.
He and his partner were awarded €1,200 compensation.
However, the judge gave Thomson leave to appeal the ruling last September, and the case is now being heard in the Court of Appeal. The airline is arguing that all international flights are governed by the Montreal Convention 1999 which imposes a two-year limit for claims.
Mr Dawson’s lawyers Bott & Co estimate that if Thomson’s appeal is thrown out, it could open up an additional four years of claimable flights.
They say the decision will affect over 11 million passengers and could be worth up to £4 billion.
Bott & Co says that on average 1.48% of flights to and from the UK suffer delays of more than three hours, only 13% of which are due to extraordinary circumstances for which passengers are not entitled to claim.
Based on these figures, it estimates 3.27 million passengers a year suffer delays of three hours or more, giving a total of 13.08 million for the four additional years for which it says airlines have refused compensation. Of these, it says 11.4 million might be entitled to payouts.
With the average claim for delays of €435 per passenger, it says if Thomson loses today’s case it could cost airlines £4 billion.
However, the figure may be exaggerated as not all airlines have stuck to the two-year limitation and other UK airlines are understood to have settled claims going back six years.
Coby Benson, technical legal manager at Bott & Co, said:"We are proud to represent Mr Dawson in what is a David versus Goliath battle against the airlines.
"We welcome the judgment and the much needed guidance it will bring to the flight compensation process here in the UK. Following this case, passengers will know with far more certainty whether they are entitled to compensation."
The case is expected to conclude today.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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