FEW issues drive a wedge between airlines and their customers like the thorny matter of compensation. In Europe, anyone whose flight is delayed by more than three hours can claim between €250 and €600 compensation for the inconvenience, provided the delay is not caused by "extraordinary circumstances". Airlines, as you would expect, interpret force majeure more broadly than passengers, lumping all manner of disruptions under the get-out clause. Along with extreme weather, terrorism and industrial action—events that are universally deemed "extraordinary"—airlines have attempted to withhold payment over bird strikes and technical faults. Successive court rulings have come down on the side of passengers, forcing the industry to stump up compensation more often.
Sometimes, though, a delay of less than three hours causes more than enough damage. That was what crossed Gulliver's mind at Edinburgh Airport last week, peering forlornly onto the runway while flight after flight took off for London—without me. My own service, the 8:50am to London City, had been delayed by 90 minutes due to the unhappy combination of...Continue reading
Source: Business and finance http://ift.tt/1LSEHpP
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