Smyth v BA and easyJet
[2024] EWHC 2173 (KB)
02 Sep 2024
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The High Court has struck out major class proceedings in which the Claimant sought to claim flight delay compensation payments from British Airways and easyJet on behalf of millions of passengers using the representative procedure under CPR 19.8.
The proceedings raised novel points of law about the permissible scope of a representative action under CPR 19.8. The judgment distils the principles in relation to the jurisdictional requirements of the rule, including that class members must have “the same interest” in the claim at all stages of proceedings. The Court held that the Claimant’s proposed approach of iteratively refining the class membership through a series of steps was impermissible under that test.
The Court further considered that even if the jurisdictional threshold were met, it would exercise its judicial discretion under CPR 19.8 to prohibit the class action from proceeding. Relevant factors in this regard included the nature of the litigation funder and the funding arrangements; and the existence of online platforms hosted by the Defendants for passengers with delayed or cancelled flights to claim compensation for free.
Brian Kennelly KC, Tom Coates, and Aislinn Kelly-Lyth successfully acted for British Airways in the application for strike-out.
A copy of the judgment is here.
