Originally Posted by
nikbruno
I am reading upthread that the new rules entitle me to the full 600 since it was greater than 3hrs but can’t find any definitive language that supports it out there. Can anyone provide a link so that I can fight UA or are they in fact correct? When I search the rules I find seem to support what they are saying but I’m not sure if it’s stale information given what I’m reading here in this thread. Thoughts on how to handle?
It's a super tangled web of court rulings.
- The original regulation (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ...4R0261:EN:HTML) doesn't say anything about compensation for delay, only standard of care. But it does specify compensation for cancellation, with different amounts depending on when you arrive (via "re-routing") to your final destination. There was no compensation if they re-route (i.e. book you on other flights) to get you there within 2 hours of the originally scheduled time and departing no more than 1 hour before your original departure time, and they may reduce the compensation by 50% if the delay in arrival is less than 4 hours (for TATL flights, other time limits for shorter flights).
- Sturgeon vs. Condor (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/legal_servic.../07c402_en.pdf) established that you are due the cancellation compensation if your flight was delayed by "more than three hours". Three hours is the rule because that's the maximum an alternate re-routing could take (leaving 1 hour earlier and arriving 2 hours later) in the case of a cancellation without them paying comp. This creates the "3 to 4 hour" windows for delays where you're due 50%, and 4+ hours is 100%. As far as I can tell the window is 2-4 hours for cancellation and 3-4 hours for delays [for TATL]. This was reaffirmed in Nelson v Deutsche Lufthansa AG (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont...%3A62010CJ0581)
- According to one person on this thread, the 50% rule was "thrown out" about 10 years ago, but I'm having trouble finding any info on that. The Sturgeon ruling specifically says they may still reduce the payment by 50% if the delay [on TATL journey] is less than 4 hours, in its section on proportionality. The 2012 Nelson ruling says the same thing. So not sure where that's coming from.
Other notes:
- You are not due comp (but are due standard of care i.e. meals and hotels) if the delay or cancellation is due to "extraordinary circumstances", which has a zillion other court cases about what constitutes extraordinary and how many layers of knock-on effects (i.e. inbound is delayed by weather, you are on the outbound -- does that count?) etc. However, mechanical issues definitely count as non-extraordinary.
- Switzerland, which enacted the same regulation, is not in the EU and so is not bound by the various court rulings.
- Various court cases (including most recently Wegener) define delay as when the aircraft door is opened at the next destination or stopover (not connection) on your ticket, including missed connections and even if the delay occurs entirely outside of the EU.