EasyJet is cutting a further 600,000 to 700,000 seats from its winter schedule, citing high fuel costs, bringing total reductions to between 1.3 million and 1.4 million seats. Passengers whose flights are cancelled should check when they were notified, as this affects their compensation rights.
Capacity cuts across the industry
EasyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis outlined the latest cuts to reporters in Brussels on 8 October. He told the Financial Times: “People are taking capacity out, we see that across all competitors,” adding that this was “no surprise” given fuel costs. He said: “I honestly think it's been quite a surprise for the industry that fuel has stayed as high as it is.”
Jet fuel prices doubled following the Iran conflict, which triggered the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Although prices have begun to ease, they remain significantly higher than airlines anticipated when hostilities began.
Scale of the reductions
The airline initially put more than 25 million seats on sale across nearly 138,000 flights between 19 October and 31 January. At an average of around 181 seats per flight, the latest reduction is equivalent to roughly 3,300 to 3,900 one-way flights. The total winter reduction equates to approximately 7,200 to 7,700 one-way flights.
These estimates reflect capacity reductions, not confirmed flight cancellations. EasyJet has not disclosed which routes are affected, how many involve UK services or how many of the withdrawn seats had already been booked.
What EasyJet says
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Like all airlines, we review our schedule on an ongoing basis and sometimes make some changes. The changes to our winter flying represent a tiny proportion of our flying programme. We make any changes in advance and typically choose multi-daily frequency flights so customers can easily move to an alternative flight.”
For passengers affected by a cancellation, the key date to check is when the airline told them their flight would no longer operate. Compensation also depends on the reason for the cancellation and the departure and arrival times of any replacement flight offered.
Compensation rules under UK261
Under UK261 legislation, passengers notified at least 14 days before departure are not entitled to fixed compensation. However, they retain the right to choose a refund or rerouting.
Passengers told between seven and fewer than 14 days before departure may be entitled to compensation unless the replacement flight leaves no more than two hours earlier and arrives less than four hours later than originally scheduled. Those notified fewer than seven days before departure may also qualify, unless the replacement leaves no more than one hour earlier and arrives less than two hours later.
Compensation ranges from £220 to £520, depending on the flight distance. The airline may not have to pay if it can demonstrate that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances. A general reference to higher fuel costs would not, by itself, establish this, according to aviation expert Anton Radchenko.
The right to a refund or rerouting is separate from any entitlement to compensation. Passengers who still need to travel should consider their replacement flight options carefully before accepting a refund.
The Civil Aviation Authority says passengers may be entitled to travel with another airline if that service would get them to their destination considerably sooner.
Anthony Radchenko, chief executive of AirAdvisor, said: “Airlines commonly describe these decisions as capacity management, but passenger-rights law examines the individual booking. If a flight was sold and subsequently withdrawn, the airline should be able to show when the passenger was informed, the specific reason that service was removed and what comparable rerouting was offered; a general reference to higher fuel costs would not, by itself, establish extraordinary circumstances.
“The most revealing cases will be passengers transferred between services on a route that operates several times a day. Moving someone from a morning flight to an evening departure may appear to be a straightforward consolidation. Still, the resulting arrival time can change the compensation position, and the existence of a substantially earlier flight with another carrier may determine whether the rerouting offered genuinely met the earliest-opportunity requirement.”
Passengers affected by a schedule change should retain the original itinerary, the timestamped cancellation email and every replacement option offered. Those three records will be considerably more important to an individual claim than the airline's overall capacity figure.
