Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation: Your Consumer Rights

What to do if your airline lets you down

By S Hunt, 23rd June 2010

Flight delays can be a nightmare - waiting for hours on end in an airport with little means of entertainment can be extremely frustrating and leave you feeling jaded when you eventually arrive at your destination. Significantly delayed flights can also be very costly as they can eat into valuable holiday time. If a flight is cancelled outright then you will be even more inconvenienced - it might cause you to miss a once in a lifetime event like a wedding, something which no sum of money can make up for.

In recent times there has been a dramatic rise in the number of air travel customers suffering at the hands of delays and cancellations, mainly due to two high-profile cases. Thousands of people have lost out due to the positively gargantuan delays caused by expulsions of volcanic ash from an Icelandic volcano in the first half of 2010, when hundreds of tourists and businessmen ended up stranded abroad. More people's travel arrangements were ruined by the ongoing strikes by British Airways' cabin crew.

If you have been the victim of a cancellation or a considerable flight delay then you may be eligible for compensation under EU law. In the last decade EU legislation has been brought in that enables disgruntled airline passengers to claim compensation after delays and cancellations.

In cases where compensation is won, the amount paid out is dependent on both the distance of the destination and the amount of time after the original arrival time that the flight ultimately arrived. The further the flight and the longer the delay, the greater the compensation amount.

In the case of delays, airlines are compelled to provide meals, drinks, phone calls, text messages, etc for free in most cases where the delay is more than 2 hours. If, however, the delay comes to 5 hours or more, the customer has options. A full refund of the ticket can be taken, or alternatively the traveller can be re-routed to his or her destination for no extra charge, either at the earliest opportunity or at a later preferred time. It is important to stress that this decision is the choice of the customer, and the airline has no right either to make the decision for them, nor attempt to sway them towards either option.

The one scenario in which you can claim compensation after a delay is if you are denied boarding after a 5-hour or more delay. Damages paid out by airlines in these cases can be as much as €600.

In the event of a cancellation the chances of financial compensation are much greater. After a cancellation a customer is entitled to the usual refund and alternative transport, but if the flight is cancelled within 14 days of the departure date, and the airline fails to deliver adequate re-routing services, the compensation sums stipulated by EU law range from €125 for shorter flights to western European destinations to €600 for flights to more far-flung locations. The compensation will also vary depending on how much of a delay you incur in eventually reaching you destination by other means.  Unfortunately BA are exempt from paying compensation to victims of their worker strike, as this is categorized as extraordinary circumstances, but anyone who missed out due to the strike should still pursue a refund.

The recent disruption caused by the volcanic ash has been very expensive for airlines, as those stranded abroad are entitled to full refunds and free provisions of meals and accommodation while they wait for another flight, on the proviso that either the starting point or destination lies within the EU. This has been of massive cost to the airline due to the sheer volume of sequestered passengers. Low cost airlines were hit particularly hard - Ryanair reported that the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had cost them 50 million euros.

If you were affected by the volcanic ash episodes and have not already claimed your refund, then the Air Transport Users Council offers advice. British Airways has said that it is still snowed under with claims relating to the volcanic ash cloud that it doesn't have the manpower to process, so the process may not be the quickest. Nevertheless, you should not let this deter you from claiming what is rightfully yours.

When seeking to claim compensation after a delayed or cancelled flight, the first step should be to write to the airline responsible, giving them all the details of what happened and what compensation you believe you are entitled to. Before doing so it would be wise to consult the EU Regulation 261/2004 (which can be found on the Civil Aviation Authority website), which handles flight compensation cases, to ascertain exactly what you are legally entitled to and also to check the airline's website for any information on policy regarding complaints. Ideally the airline will comply and cough up, but large organizations can be bullish when it comes to parting with their money.

If you are unsuccessful in getting compensation directly from the airline then you can try contacting the Air Transport Users Council, providing your flight did not depart from a non-EU nation. If you write to them with all the details of your unsatisfactory travel experience along with all the pertinent correspondence with the airline then they will further your case.

Even if the AUC are unsuccessful with your case, you have not yet come to the end of the road. You should still be able to take your case to a County Court and issue a claim under the Small Claims procedures. For more guidance on the Small Claims Court, seek legal advice.

If, after trying all of these things, you have not been successful, there is one more option if you purchased your ticket (even if only partially) with a credit card, and the price of the ticket was £100 or more. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974 there is a possibility that you can claim compensation from your credit card provider. Section 75 is a little-known law whereby the cost of faulty expensive products purchased using a credit card can be reclaimed.

If you have exhausted all your options and are still without compensation then you can still show your contempt for the airline by way of a good old-fashioned boycott. If all disgruntled customers withdrew their custom from companies that have mistreated them, they would be forced to invest more time in customer care.

All in all, it is absolutely worthwhile to try, and if you have genuinely suffered then you should stand a good chance of success.

For further information, please see our FREE guides on flight delay and cancellation compensation and Section 75 claims.

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