Taylor V Ryanair - Bird Strike - Liverpool County Court

Flight delays due to bird strikes are a common feature in European airline news and it is a well known fact that this is a fairly ‘regular’ occurrence that airline companies need to deal with. In fact, statistics show that a single airline company may have to deal with as many as a dozen bird strike incidents a month. There are some flight routes where the risk of birds flying right into the path of the plane is significantly higher. While an experienced pilot may be able to manoeuver the flight so that it makes a completely safe landing with no harm caused to the passengers, a bird strike could still involve several hours delay until the passengers can be flown to their destinations.

Not so favourable ruling for passengers in bird strike cases

Recent UK flight news channels have underlined how court decisions have not exactly been in the passengers’ favour in compensation claims cases where the flight was delayed because of bird strikes. The Taylor V Ryanair is a significant case in this respect where the judge ruled that the delay was indeed caused by an ‘extraordinary circumstance’. As per EU law, the airline can reject the compensation claim if the delay was caused by factors beyond their control that do not fall within the inherent activity and risks of the airline business. In this case, District Judge Jenkinson held that the bird strike was an ‘unavoidable’ circumstance that was beyond the control of Ryanair and owing to this, the passenger, Taylor’s claim for compensation was not justified.

Following this decision, almost all European airline news channels highlighted that fact that it was not the claimant’s flight that suffered a bird hit, but the incoming Ryanair flight. The same flight was scheduled to make a turnaround on which the claimant was supposed to travel. The bird hit occurred on the flight’s incoming journey, causing a delay in readying it for the turnaround trip. The opinion of passenger rights advocates is that since Taylor was not a passenger on the flight that actually suffered the bird hit, he should be compensated for the long delay. In an interesting development, the German Supreme Court agreed with Judge Jenkinson’s ruling of ‘extraordinary circumstances’, supporting the airline carrier Ryanair’s rejection of the compensation claim.

"Extraordinary circumstances" in the spotlight once more

The question of what constitutes ‘extraordinary circumstances’ has been dominating UK flight news for quite a while now. In fact, many European airline news channels have been meticulously following the contrasting passenger claims compensations arguments put forth by passenger advocates and airlines spokespersons. The Liverpool County Court judgment by District Judge Jenkinson has added another dimension to the issue about whether bird strikes are unexpected occurrences in an airline company’s daily business operations. Clarity on this issue and the specific term will go a long way in determining whether or not passenger have legitimate grounds for claims.