Who should get compensation for Volcanic ash losses?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Both stranded passengers and airlines are asking for compensation. Passengers want compensation for hotel stays, loss wages. Airlines want the gov to compensate them for lost business.

on edit: Ryanair is paying to a subset of their stranded passengers after pressure from the EU:
Ryanair officials declined to offer any estimate of their potential liabilities. They said the airline will reimburse receipted expenses only to customers who did not request a ticket refund or make alternative travel plans. So only those customers who stayed put and waited for a replacement Ryanair service would get their hotel and meal costs repaid.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmSLKBixj0Q2PpRTvmTWqXlwGc8QD9F84A380

[havocmom]

1. good luck trying to get the volcano to pay up

[Mari333]

9. beat me to it

Id like to see the volcano in court , tho. on Judge Judy

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

2. Shit happens.

[zipplewrath]

3. Insurance

I do believe this is what insurance is for.

[RobinA]

29. Exactly

Anyone with insurance covering such losses.

[petronius]

30. I agree - this is one of those things you buy trip insurance for

People who chose not to buy trip coverage (as I rarely do) assume the risk for interruptions like this...

[Obamanaut]

4. No one. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Me

Any Questions........ I thought not.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. Me

Why not?

[zorahopkins]

7. I Think There Should Be Reasonable Compensation

I think that there should be some sort of reasonable compensation to both the stranded passengers and the airlines.

It just doesn't seem at all fair to me that passengers who had to pay for rooms and meals should be told "Sorry, this is YOUR problem. You must pay." Some of the stranded passengers, I'm fairly certain, are out lots of money.

I think the compensation should be reasonable -- people who stayed at 4-star hotels while they were stranded should NOT be compensated, for instance.

[dmallind]

11. By whom?

It is not the fault of the airlines or the governments that flying was rendered unsafe. This is pretty clearcut force majeure, and should no more incur liability than a lightning strike.

[zorahopkins]

16. Governments

Governments are FAR more rich (and therefore far more able to pay) than inidividual stranded passengers or airline companies.

For me, this really is a fairness issue.

It just doesn't seem fair to me that people who planned (and budgeted) for a six-day trip had to end up paying for a twelve day trip.

If you make the individual stranded passengers pay, then you make the people who are the LEAST able to pay pay for this.

[NeedleCast]

20. So you want to hold taxpayers accountable because people got stuck due to natural disaster

You can't possibly be serious....

[zorahopkins]

26. Hurricane Katrina

I think the taxpayers paid to help out people who were victims of a natural disaster.

I think the taxpayers paid to help out people who were victims of floods.

I think the taxpayers paid to help out people who were victims of earthquakes.

Get my drift?

[slackmaster]

33. It's absurd to compare someone who lost a home to someone who got stranded in Italy for a few days

:argh:

[NeedleCast]

34. No, because you're comparing apples and oranges

These aren't people who have suffered home loss or other devastation due to a natural disaster, they are people who were on vacation and/or business trips and whom, in most case, will be slightly inconvenienced.

[dmallind]

22. What other things should be compensated then?

Rain or snow slows down your drive home necessitating an overnight stay? You get a flat tire and miss the show waiting for a repair truck? It's not a government's responsibility to make sure no plans get waylaid by natural events surely?

[slackmaster]

23. Individual stranded passengers assumed a risk and are responsible for their own problems

So are the airlines, travel agencies, etc.

It just doesn't seem fair to me that people who planned (and budgeted) for a six-day trip had to end up paying for a twelve day trip.

Fairness is not the issue. Life is not fair. A person who planned and budgeted for a six-day trip that ended up being a 12-day trip planned poorly.

Vacation trips go awry all the time. If your budget can't cover being stuck somewhere for a few days, you probably went to a place that you really couldn't afford to visit.

[zorahopkins]

27. People Who Live In Earthquake Zones and Near Oceans

If I am not mistaken, people who live in earthquake zones and near oceans assume a risk.

But don't we, when there is an earthquake or a tsumani, help out those people who are the victims of a natural disaster?

We don't, I think, say to those people, "If your budget can cover the losses from the earthquake, you probably decided to live in a place you really could not afford".

[slackmaster]

28. That's right, and I keep enough food, water, etc. on hand to survive for several weeks

Of course we help people who are in danger of starving, freezing, dying of thirst, etc.

We don't, I think, say to those people, "If your budget can cover the losses from the earthquake, you probably decided to live in a place you really could not afford".

It's not a matter of not being able to cover the loss. The issue is whether or not a person is prepared to deal with it and get on with life. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and you suffer a loss.

I don't expect anyone to come along and make my finances whole if my home is destroyed in an earthquake. I could buy earthquake insurance from the California Earthquake Authority, but I've looked at the numbers and concluded that with the high deductibles, no available earthquake policy makes sense for me in my location.

If I get out of it with my mind, body, and spirit intact, living where I do would still have been a very good life.

[zorahopkins]

32. That Would Make For Some Heavy Carry-On Luggage

If you are suggesting that people who travel by airplanes carry enough food to last for several days and also carry sleeping bags and other items, might I suggest that that would make for some pretty heave carry-on luggage.

The fact is that we DO have sympathy for people who are victims of natural disasters, and we do, I hope, try to have our governments reasonably compensate people who, through no fault of their own, find themselves victims of natural disasters.

It just seems fair and compassionate to me.

By the way, I hope you are NEVER the victim of an earthquake. But if you are, I would hope the governments (of both California and the USA) would eagerly give you and your family aid and reasonable compensation.

[slackmaster]

37. I prepare as well as I can for forseeable disasters

If you are suggesting that people who travel by airplanes carry enough food to last for several days and also carry sleeping bags and other items...

Of course not. I'm suggesting that people who travel by airplane carry enough money to be able to pay their way for a few days if they get stuck somewhere. If a potential vacation destination is too expensive for you to become stranded there for a few days, it's too expensive for you to go in the first place. There are always less expensive options.

Any place that has an airport that can accommodate international jet flights is not a wilderness, unless it gets clobbered by a storm, earthquake, etc.

Inability to fly jet planes is not analogous to not having potable water on tap, sanitation, available food, shelter, etc.

[Rebubula]

12. OK...

...so who pays that compensation? Iceland? Minerva? Vishnu? Delta?

Life is not fair and sometimes shit happens and it makes your existence a bit painful.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. How about the poor folks in Iceland whose homes are covered with solidified ash?

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. good point. Should have added this group to the poll

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. We even got some ash here in Denmark

which I had to clean up off of the window sill

[slackmaster]

31. Is the Danish government going to cover your cleaning costs?

;-)

[Ichingcarpenter]

43. No damn it!

I even had to bring in a crew of towlies











You have no idea what labor costs here.

[slackmaster]

44. Those Towelies can smoke a lot of weed

I know what you mean.

[Ichingcarpenter]

45. Afghanistan and it's not weed

Hash or heroin these days.

Do I get bailed out?

No,
what am I, a bank or a hedge fund?
Screw humanity and the real sufferers
my shelve was dirty and don't charge for carry on

[slackmaster]

25. They deserve some help, like the people in Haiti, Mexico, and China whose homes have been destroyed

By earthquakes.

[Chulanowa]

13. Let the airline companies pay it if they like; it's good CR

But who should pay? Nobody. It's a fucking volcano. What a dumb question.

[Subdivisions]

15. How completely absurd that anyone would expect compensation of

expenses incurred beyond the original airline ticket for the fallout from a volcano.

[bikebloke]

17. Let's be fair.

Give all the compensation to me. Then I'll retire to New Zealand for everyone inconvenienced by the volcano. :P

[marmar]

18. I'm sure the deregulation-loving free-market airline welfare queens will come begging any moment now

nt

[havocmom]

24. seems probable

[Ozymanithrax]

19. The Volcano...it is donating all of that ash to europe and being left an empty caldera...n/t

[petronius]

35. Good point - Europe should pay Iceland for that influx of fertile soil

Also, anyone who enjoyed looking at a spectacular sunset should pay Iceland a royalty, on a sliding scale depending on whether or not that sunset led to a romantic interlude...

:)

[slackmaster]

21. Only individuals and businesses who bought insurance to cover their losses

Nobody else.

[NeedleCast]

38. Man I love travelers insurance

When I was on the road for work 250ish days a year, I made a killing on it.

Every lost bag (half a dozen-ish), every delayed or cancalled flight...all paid for by insurance. Hooray!

[slackmaster]

39. Sounds good. I've never used it. Most of my trips are 1-2 days with just a laptop case.

Containing a change or two of underwear and socks.

And some cash and a couple of credit cards.

[sinkingfeeling]

40. Anybody that travels internationally should invest in a good travelers' insurance policy. The one I

got in March would have paid if the volcano had blown about 2 weeks earlier.

[The Straight Story]

36. Make Iceland pay - they need to learn to keep their volcano under control

:)

[Democrats_win]

41. The RIGHT answer: Wall Street Banks of Course.

They have executive bonuses to pay. Why should now be any different than it was in 2008? When Americans were being thrown out of their homes, who did we bail out? bankers and their bonuses!

Any answer other than the bankers can't possibly be right because it was "right" in 2008 and things are better now. If we give them more bailout money, things will get even better.

[Rabrrrrrr]

42. No one - that's what insurance is for. Natural disasters are just that.

They are unpredictable, and thus no one - no government, no person, no corporation - should be on the hook to "repay" anyone or anything put out by the disaster, excepting any insurance companies that had policies out for such things, then of course they should be required to pay up.

[Dappleganger]

46. This is what trip insurance is for. It's a natural disaster, like a hurricane.

Do you think that hotels and airlines compensate for a major hurricane? Hell no, it's not their fault.