Flight safety under pressure through claims by plane delay!

Is this really true or just a prime example of marketing and lobbying of the airlines?


The penny has dropped by the airline companies, they have to pay damages if their flights are delayed for more than 3 hours. Instead of dealing with these damages in a correct way, flight safety is jeopardized. Airlines say they have to make a tradeoff to avoid delays. In order to avoid a delay, an airline might choose not to make a stop to refuel. This is dangerous. Air traffic in Europe is extremely high, hence this is not a good development.

Why do these stories suddenly appear? Airline companies do not want to upset their passengers, right?

To understand the big picture, it is the useful to get more background information. Since 2004 there is a European legislation that protects air passengers in case of cancelation, overbooking and delays. In case of overbooking and cancelation you are entitled to a financial compensation, while in case of delays passengers are entitled to assistance only. This is the reason why airline companies ‘prefer’ a delay instead of a cancelation. In 2009 the European Court decided to equalize a delay of three hours with a cancelation. This so-called Sturgeon verdict gives right to compensation up to £ 480. You probably understand that the airline companies were not pleased with this verdict. Since, they frustrate every request for compensation and 95% of the claims is rejected directly. It does take some time, and we experience this everyday at Fight-Delayed. Airline companies wanted more clarity, and even preferred to cancel the entire compensation regulation. Some judges, for example in Germany and England, asked some preliminary questions. These are questions to obtain more information about the compensation regulation. The European Court will make a decision soon, that is waited for since trouble started in 2009. 

On May 15^th the Advocate-General from the European Court in Luxembourg, Yves Bot, advised the European Court to maintain current legislation and let the airline companies pay in case of prolonged delays.

Is this such an unfortunate judgment that jeopardizes the rights of air passengers?

There is so much pressure that Mr. Bot did bear the flight safety in mind when making this judgment. In this decision and hence advice, he also mentioned not to know any reason why to deviate from current legislation. Yves Bot has a high position in court and this means that the end is near. It is not just a simple decision.

It is not a surprise that airline companies bring out this kind of messages at this moment in time, as they really want to stop the compensation regulation (EC) nr. 261/2004. If they have to pay in case of flight delays it will cost them tons of money. They try to stop this by lobbying by political parties in Brussels. Many CEOs of airline companies went to Brussels to clarify the point of view of the aviation industry, because at the time political and social discussions start all over, they (the airline companies) are in favor. On the one hand, politicians can think that delays and flight safety are always related and this might result in a withdrawal or modification of present legislation. This, while most of the decisions that cause a delay are of a commercial or operational nature.

The slots are short, fuel is expensive and if technical problems occur, the necessary time to repair the problems is not available without causing delays or cancelations in the worst case. People will think more about their own safety instead of their money and this is exactly the kind of messages the airline companies use to advantage their positions.

Many people think that this compensation regulation, and hence the claims, will increase the ticket prices, that finally have to be paid by the air passengers. This would be the optimal solution because the increase will be tiny. We always talk about high percentages of delays. This is true, and partly because of the enormous amount of flights and passengers in Europe. Yearly, there are about 1,5 billion air passengers and the estimation about how much money airline companies have to pay is equal, i.e. 1,5 billion euro. If the tickets would be increased by one euro each, the entire problem is solved. For me it seems like a perfect solution.

Background information:

27% of all European flight traffic is delayed and only 2,1% of these flights give right to compensation because of cancelations or delays. This means that 30 million people per year are entitled to compensation from the airline companies. If your flight has been delayed, cancelled or overbooked, you have a legal right to compensation up to £ 480 per passenger. Check out your flight on www.flight-delayed.co.uk and submit your claim.