EC261 and UK261 Discussion: Successes and Failures

[Himeno]

It might have been the specific mechanical issues were in fact, ‘extraordinary’. In an of themselves mechanical issues don’t escape EU/UK261.

Your hotel and meals should have been covered for the 24 hour delay.

BA refused to have anything to do with it. EK never got an answer from them (or CX). Nothing happened to fix the problem until they got through to QF in SYD.
QF insisted on sending me to a hotel through the Dubai Connect thing (with transfers each way). I would have been happy to stay in the DXB Concourse A F lounge all day.

I don't think BA ever said exactly what sort of mechanical issue it was, they just outright denying that any mechanical issue was subject to the protections.

 

[Human]

I don't think BA ever said exactly what sort of mechanical issue it was, they just outright denying that any mechanical issue was subject to the protections

I’ve just had a read of the actual legislation. It’s quite interesting to see how much of what it says is downright ignored by the airlines and by EU member governments! (Eg. airlines have an “obligation” to inform all passengers of their rights in the case of delays or cancellations).

The legislation does give a partial list of what constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance”. One of the things listed is “unexpected flight safety shortcomings” (paragraph 14).

So I suppose an airline could argue that if a mechanical issue compromises or potentially compromises flight safety, then it does indeed constitute an “extraordinary circumstance”.

Regulation - 261/2004 - EN - Flight Compensation Regulation - EUR-Lex

eur-lex.europa.eu

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I’ve just had a read of the actual legislation. It’s quite interesting to see how much of what it says is downright ignored by the airlines and by EU member governments! (Eg. airlines have an “obligation” to inform all passengers of their rights in the case of delays or cancellations).

The legislation does give a partial list of what constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance”. One of the things listed is “unexpected flight safety shortcomings” (paragraph 14).

So I suppose an airline could argue that if a mechanical issue compromises or potentially compromises flight safety, then it does indeed constitute an “extraordinary circumstance”.

Regulation - 261/2004 - EN - Flight Compensation Regulation - EUR-Lex

eur-lex.europa.eu

The legislation is 20 years old now. The text has been the subject of many court cases, including final decisions by the central european court.

There’s little interpretation from reading the text… court cases have defined what is, and what isn't, extraordinary. Essentially ‘extraordinary’ must be beyond the airline’s control and not inherent in running an airline. Maintenance issues which affect safety are a fairly common occurrence. But very few of them are deemed ‘extraordinary’.

 

[serfty]

I don't think BA ever said exactly what sort of mechanical issue it was, they just outright denying that any mechanical issue was subject to the protections.

Case law has it that that mechanical issues ARE NOT EXTRAORDINARY generally being inherent in the operation of an airline.

This has been since 2008 with the decision in Wallentin Hermann -v- Alitalia (C-549/07) .

Flight Compensation Leading Cases - Flight Delay Pay Compensations

EC261 Case Law database to 31/12/2020 EC No 261/2004 (EC261) as amended by The Air Passengers Rights and Air Travel Organisers Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (APR) In the UK we have a Common Law system

flightdelaypay.com

It was upheld with the decision in the Huzar ~v~ Jet2 case in 2014.

Huzar v Jet2.com - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If BA you have 6 years to revisit the claim.

 

[serfty]

Hi all,

My family of 4 had a recent trip departing from Europe via Doha. The CHP-DOH leg was delayed by 3 h, Qatar rebooked us to another flight for the 2nd leg, gave us hotel and food voucher in Doha (nice of them, but we were already in Doha on the way to Europe). We reached the final destination 16 h late. There is nothing i can do about being Qatared on both legs, missing out on the Quad Q suite for the family. but i will of course pursue the delay compensation according to EU261.

Contacted Qatar, they responded quite promptly after a few days, asking for copies of our passports, tickets, authorisation to act on behalf of the family, birth cert of our child who is under 18, etc. I supplied them with necessary documents, then dead silence.

It has been about 4 weeks.

Question to my braintrust: when should i start escalate this and contact the Danish National Enforcement Body (where the flight commenced)?

It has been a couple of month now - did you receive satisfactory compensation ?