Originally Posted by
snic
I'm the first to admit I'm not an expert. However, based on years of browsing forums like this, it seems to be fairly widely agreed that extracting EU261 compensation from Swiss is far more difficult, and less likely to be successful, than for other European airlines.
That depends on what exactly you mean by "relevant".
If you mean "EU261 and Switzerland/EU politics is not relevant to an elderly couple being charged $1600 for showing up a little late", then I agree with you. That law, and those politcal arguments, have nothing to do with that happened to the OP's parents.
If, however, you mean "The fact that Swiss refuses to compensate its passengers for its own tardiness is not relevant to its demand to be compensated when its passengers are tardy", then I disagree with you. Why should I pay a fee to Swiss if I'm late, but they are not obligated to do the same for me if they're late?
From a moral standpoint, one is very relevant to the other, even if from a legal standpoint they are not.
I am not sure why you are injecting politics into this.
Switzerland is not an EU Member State. The CJEU is not its highest court of appeals. Thus, the opinions of the CJEU matter to Switzerland as much as those of the high courts of South Africa, Canada, and Australia. That is far from "political."
Switzerland, as it should enforces Swiss law and that included EC 261/2004 as interpreted by Swiss courts. That is far from "political."
Most of the rants on FT about LX are the result of complaints that LX paid out under Swiss not EU interpretation. That is far from "political."