GBP319m airlines compensation claim not in interest of consumers, judge rules

A woman’s High Court bid to make airlines take a “proactive” approach to paying compensation estimated to be worth more than GBP300m has been thrown out as it is “not in the interest of consumers”, a judge has ruled. Claire Smyth asked to be named as a “representative” of passengers who she said were not made aware of their rights to claim compensation on around 116,000 flights from 2016 to 2022. She began legal action against British Airways and easyJet after her own flight was cancelled in 2022, claiming that airlines did not do enough to make customers aware of their rights. Judge Richard Davison said that on a “rough and ready” estimate the claim was worth GBP319m, but that 24% of any money recovered would be split between Ms Smyth’s lawyers and her employer, an Australian man named John Armour, who had funded the legal bid. In a ruling on Monday, the judge dismissed her case, stating that the “dominant motive” for the claim was not the interests of passengers.<br/>