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When did you expect it? Immediately? After the first day? At what point do you think it became obvious to the "experts" that UK airspace was likely to be clsoed for more than a couple of days?
Point I am trying to make is, when did you want Govt to act?
The have laid on the RN, they have laid on coaches. Part of the reason that more ferries and Eurotrains are running is because Govt asked them to. Govt seem to be doing what people wanted, just not as fast as people wanted. This, IMHO, is due to unrealistic expectations and the benefit of hindsight.
All through this the airspace has been reviewed every few hoursand occasionally flights have been allowed in.
Whilst I have every sympathy for people caught out by this, both abroad and in the UK trying to get away, I really don't think that they could expect the Govt to bail out their holiday for them. It's one of the risks you take.
Sure, get caught up in a war and I;d expect immediate action, but when it's act of God...?
This makes me laugh.
What information did people expect? Everyone knew the reason for the flights being grounded, did you want personalised minute by minute updates via text?
*****Dear Mr Smith Ash cloud still present planes still grounded, we apologise for the inconvience. Message ends*****
Talk about stating the bloody obvious. And saying that because you're abroad you were at a disadvantage somehow, I'm sorry but unless you were on a desert island somewhere without electricity, finding information would have meant spending a couple of euros on an internet cafe or calling a friend at home. Everything we know about the ash cloud came from the news, something that doesn't suddenly vanish the moment you cross the border.
People expect too much of the government, and it's funny that people are blaming Brown and Labour for a decision the civil aviation authority made which was backed up by similar authorities across Europe.
That is what you're always told. The airlines, the government and anyone else can't control what the volcano is going to do, they can't put huge fans around it to blow the ash away from the country. All we could do is wait.
Yea I saw some fucking journalist editor saying "People just dont know how to take initative these days.. I just jumped on a cargo ship and paid £800" (or some large moneys to that effect).
Find me a random person in the street who has £800 to burn.
Find me a family at the end of a holiday that's probably been saved up for because nobody has a lot of time, with no money left (probably overdraft and credit cards used), who has that kind of money to throw away.
I could have punched the smug journalist who no doubt wrote on his blog 'yea, I'm so pragmatic, everyone else needs to remember how to get around'.
Everyone else needs to string him up by his balls and hit him with a large stick.
:yes:
Xx
An organisation that wouldn't lose anything decides it's too dangerous to fly.
And I'd argue that an airliner with 4 engines that are larger than a fighter jets anyway will suck in almost as much air. It not going as fast will have a great deal to do with the sheer size and weight of the beast.
I think this is a good call actually, Brown has been a reactionary PM, he seems to read the papers and then speak about the issues he thinks people care about. For example, he spoke about Jade Goody - I don't want my PM talking about loudmouthed reality TV stars, no matter how ill they are. It's transparent, and it's make me cringe. Of course, you're right it's headline time in the press - no style though as usual Labour, no class.
Act of God? I know that's what the insurance companies call it, but let's face it, a volcanic eruption is not an act of God.
The insurance companies have used that as a reason not to pay out.
The Government took the decision to ban flights, not the volcano, so they should be the ones to repatriate people.
I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to be one of the people where they said "we're gonna send a plane up to 35,000 feet and try and get you home, oh by the way, there's a 50% chance it will drop out of the sky".
Like many have commented, people have saved up to go on holiday, they shouldn't be forced to spend further money on accommodation, food and travel, especially when adding up to a couple of hundred pounds or more per family.
As far as 'that's a risk you take' - balls. So if you were walking down the street and someone grabbed you and pointed a gun at you, we'd all just walk past and go 'oh well, they knew the risks?' - yeah right!
Should the government back pay everyone who has ever had to do this then? The governemnt stoppled flights yes, but if they didn't and gave airlines the option to fly when posing a risk to lives of thousands, then they'd be grilled for not stopping it. Even worse if flights did take off and crashed. Where the government would also be blammed for not stopping it.
No, because if flights have been cancelled by the airline, they have been covered under the airline T&C's, or the pax travel insurance has covered it.
Read what I wrote. I certainly can't remember in my lifetime another incident on a similar scale (excluding 9/11).
State imo has no responsibility to compensate people, just the same as if people couldn't get to work because the government cancelled the buses for whatever reason - its just one of those things you need to deal with which is the whole reason insurance is there.
Obviously when it's widescale then the state should try to help out to repatriate people but that doesn't mean individually catering for everyone as that's an impossible challenge. Buses to 'hubs', extra boats + trains, stuff like that, seems sufficient to me.
Then when they do make some contribution in a good way, its never enough.