Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
If the airline changes the schedule, why wouldn't the refund be half of the RT fare, adjusted of course if the return is booked in coach?
If the schedule change occurs within two weeks of the scheduled departure date, EC261 would apply to the return portion from Europe to the USA.
The AA COC is sufficient for a full refund. OP could, if he wanted under EC 261/2004 also choose a later date for the return, but that does not yield him much as AA would do that anyway.
Under OP's scenario, he would be entitled to a refund of the fare difference, e.g., the cheap return vs. the expensive one-way, not 50% of the return.