EasyJet loses my respect after its handling of delay

Declaration of interest: even though I was not flying on easyJet’s flight 8303 from London Gatwick to Milan Malpensa yesterday, I had a strong interest that the Airbus A320 should depart on time.

- SIMON CALDER TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT

One of my sisters, Penny, was visiting another sister, Kate, for an important birthday. Penny was carrying messages and gifts from the extended family.

What could possibly go wrong? Over to easyJet, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

“Scheduled: 9.20am. Estimated 2.54pm”

A delay like this - of five hours or more - triggers all manner of rights for the passenger. In particular you have the option to cancel for a full refund, or switch to another flight.

The good news: there were plenty of other flights. Ten minutes after the plane to Milan Malpensa was due out, easyJet had another departure to Milan Linate. If that did not suit, easyJet offered two other flights to Milan Malpensa. I checked, and seats were available. You could buy them online.

EasyJet could have invited passengers facing a five-hour delay to change to an earlier departure, but chose not to do so.

Instead, Britain's biggest budget airline merely provided a “click here to see your rights” link, thereby fulfilling its legal duty.

That is easyJet’s choice - as is the airline’s decision to continue selling seats on the flights that would have got the delayed passengers to Milan much earlier. Instead, they were sold to new customers.