EU 261

What’s the real reason for my flight delay?

Question: In late December, my Air France flight from Paris to Strasbourg was delayed because of an electrical problem. We returned to the terminal 2-1/2 hours later only to find ourselves stuck in a mess of weather delays and cancellations — with having to wait in a two-hour-long line multiple times — only to have each subsequent flight canceled.
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No compensation for Alitalia bird ingestion

Paul DiFeterici’s recent Alitalia flight from Miami to Rome was delayed by seven hours. “We were given a paper with information to contact Alitalia customer relations for compensation,” he says. He tried calling and writing to the airline, but no luck.

“I haven’t heard from them,” he says. “Would you be able to help me contact the correct people?”
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What would you do? My airline owes me €600 but all I’m getting is excuses

Timothy Delaney was on his way to his mother-in-law’s funeral in Addis Ababa when he encountered an unexpected delay: His Emirates flight from London to Dubai was canceled after a de-icer accidentally rammed his jet.

“Luckily, they managed to schedule another flight the next day,” he says. “However, I arrived more than 24 hours later than planned and had to spend nights in London and Dubai — on Emirates tab, but with some hassle.”

Emirates was correct to accommodate Delaney during this mechanical delay. But is he entitled to more?

His rights are outlined in EU Regulation 261/2004, the controversial European law that protects airline passengers.
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What would you do? No refund for a canceled Air Baltic flight

Editor’s note: I’m introducing a new feature — “What would you do?” — today. Here’s how it works: At 7 a.m. Eastern time, I present a case and ask you how you’d solve it. You can take a poll or sound off in the comments. At 5 p.m., I’ll reveal the poll results and tell you how it was resolved.

Sirje Viise and a friend were scheduled to fly from Tallinn, Estonia to Berlin by way of Riga on Air Baltic. They had booked their airline tickets through Expedia.

But something happened between Estonia’s capital and Germany. Viise believes an overbooking problem led to her delay at a stopover in Riga, and after some haggling with ticket agents, she and her companion were instructed to buy two new tickets on EasyJet for 256 euro each.

European law is clear about the compensation to which Viise is entitled in an overbooking situation: 2,000 euros for the two delayed flights and a refund for her unused connecting flight. But Air Baltic, whose slogan, interestingly, is “We Care,” had other ideas.
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44 comments