Refusal of flight delay compensation
A flight with United Airlines from Glasgow to Las Vegas via Newark was cancelled.
United Airlines staff re-routed the family via Heathrow and Los Angeles on flights operated by British Airways and Air New Zealand. The passengers were travelling to Las Vegas for their niece’s wedding.
When they requested compensation they were only offered air vouchers, when the offer was challenged the airline claimed the original flight from Glasgow was delayed by “extraordinary circumstances” and thus not covered by EU Regulation 261/2004.
The European regulation sets out the airline’s responsibilities and when a flight is cancelled at short notice, or if it arrives at the destination more than three hours late, the airline is required to pay $600 (£455), unless the delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance such as a security alert, a strike, or freak weather conditions such as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. The passengers took the airline to Court but the matter was settled outside Court. To see the rules please visit our website here.
