A True Nightmare Before Christmas
The discount Spanish airline Air Madrid shut down operations on Friday and left tens of thousands of passengers without a flight for the holidays. The company has been under investigation by the Spanish government for security and safety violations. Friday, upon the government's notice of the airline's imminent suspension, the company decided to suspend operations immediately.
It's estimated that more than 130,000 passengers who have already flown one way are now left without a return ticket. In addition to this, more than 300,000 tickets for the coming months are now void. The government has said that it will require the company to reimburse travelers for their losses up to 600 Euros. They have also secured a small fleet of planes (really small, like 4 or 5) to attempt to transport as many of the affected passengers as possible, using a priority system to determine who flies first.
I got a bolt of panic when I first saw this on the news, as I'm flying from Madrid in exactly eight days. Fortunately, I'm on EasyJet, another discount airline. Hmmm, maybe it's better to pay a little extra for a brand name that you can trust. On second thought, does that exist?
UPDATE 12/20/2006: The government agency that was to reimburse the passengers for their tickets is now saying that they are legally unable to return the money without the consent of the airline. There's a lot of finger pointing and many, many unhappy people. Merry Christmas, eh?
UPDATE 12/21/2006: Today, the government suspended the "emergency" flights for the people affected by the Air Madrid shutdown, saying that "the government is not going to pay for the vacations of anyone." There have been protests and clashes with security officials in the airport in response to this announcement... UNDERSTANDABLY, no? The government forces and airline to stop business just before the holiday and then decides to wash it's hands of the problem. Not a good sequence of events.
The discount Spanish airline Air Madrid shut down operations on Friday and left tens of thousands of passengers without a flight for the holidays. The company has been under investigation by the Spanish government for security and safety violations. Friday, upon the government's notice of the airline's imminent suspension, the company decided to suspend operations immediately.
It's estimated that more than 130,000 passengers who have already flown one way are now left without a return ticket. In addition to this, more than 300,000 tickets for the coming months are now void. The government has said that it will require the company to reimburse travelers for their losses up to 600 Euros. They have also secured a small fleet of planes (really small, like 4 or 5) to attempt to transport as many of the affected passengers as possible, using a priority system to determine who flies first.
I got a bolt of panic when I first saw this on the news, as I'm flying from Madrid in exactly eight days. Fortunately, I'm on EasyJet, another discount airline. Hmmm, maybe it's better to pay a little extra for a brand name that you can trust. On second thought, does that exist?
UPDATE 12/20/2006: The government agency that was to reimburse the passengers for their tickets is now saying that they are legally unable to return the money without the consent of the airline. There's a lot of finger pointing and many, many unhappy people. Merry Christmas, eh?
UPDATE 12/21/2006: Today, the government suspended the "emergency" flights for the people affected by the Air Madrid shutdown, saying that "the government is not going to pay for the vacations of anyone." There have been protests and clashes with security officials in the airport in response to this announcement... UNDERSTANDABLY, no? The government forces and airline to stop business just before the holiday and then decides to wash it's hands of the problem. Not a good sequence of events.
posted by Chromest*r at 1:13 AM
1 Comments:
Just thought I'd check in and read some of your most recent blogs. It sounds like you've stayed in Spain longer than you expected and that you're continuously further immersing yourself in the culture. Good for you.
~Shaun O
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