Following the delay of a Ryanair flight that lasted to about nine hours, there was an agreement to compensate an adult male passenger. However, the man also demanded compensation for his six-month-old daughter who was sitting on his lap for the rest of the flight.
According to the Telegraph, Ryanair first denied the man of his request for the reason that babies, who don't have seat reservations and are only charged to about $25 administration fee, shouldn't get compensation like regular passengers do. The budget airline is upset since they've already spent more than $1,000 to compensate the family that paid only about $100 for their plane tickets.
The company expressed that the infant wouldn't really feel any inconvenience due to the fact that she's still young. But a ruling was made by a judge at Liverpool County Court, which ordered Ryanair to add additional compensation that amounted to $395. Daily Mail reported that the ruling would lead to future claims that would cost airline companies an estimated amount to about $12.3 million.
"The Defendant asserted that the fee was not paid either on behalf of Crystal or for her account, but rather as a charge to Mr. Varey to entitle him to carry on his child," Judge Richard Pearce said. "The analogy was drawn with a charge for taking golf clubs onto an aircraft."
On the other hand, Ryanair stated that the ruling was "daft" and is now ordering its lawyers to appeal for it. The company expressed that compensating infants who are 2 years and below is "absurd" since the adults would have already been compensated.
The firm that took over the case of Mr. Varey and his baby girl stated that many airlines have already been avoiding flight delay compensation responsibilities when it comes to infant passengers. In fact, there were about 150,000 British passengers who weren't compensated this week.
But Ryanair is now planning to increase ticket prices for babies if the ruling is not rescinded. It's said that the company will double the fares to also counter-balance for future costs.
