The sticker on the plane said more than any angry email ever could. An Austrian bailiff accompanied by airline staff boarded a Ryanair jet in Linz on Monday and slapped a seizure notice on its cabin after the airline failed to pay around $1,020 in court-ordered compensation and legal costs to a passenger whose flight was delayed by 13 hours in 2024. The passenger, who had paid for an alternative flight from Linz to Mallorca, won her case in an Austrian court, but when Ryanair didn't pay up, she asked authorities to enforce the ruling, the Guardian reports. A court ordered the airline to pay the woman compensation plus interest and court costs.
A bailiff, escorted by airport staff, asked crew to hand over the money; because Ryanair flights are cashless, they couldn't. The bailiff's notice, which features the eagle from Austria's coat of arms, is known as a "cuckoo sticker" in bankruptcy courts, the Street reports. It gives the court legal control over the Boeing 737 and, if the debt isn't settled by a deadline, the aircraft could be sold at auction—though it's currently allowed to keep flying under certain conditions and it departed for London after the drama on Monday.
Ryanair denies the aircraft was seized and declined to say whether the debt has since been paid. Passenger-rights advocates say such hardball enforcement is rare; in most cases claimants drop their pursuit or airlines pay up before bailiffs get anywhere near the tarmac. The Guardian reports that Ryanair and other budget airlines have long been criticized for ignoring European Commission regulations that require them to pay 600 euros, around $686, in compensation to passengers who are delayed for three hours or more.
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