A couple months ago, I used Avios to book an award flight ORD-MAD-VCE (all on same ticket) in October. Over the weekend, I received a notice of schedule change. The ORD-MAD leg is departing later than originally scheduled. Granted, the connection time was always somewhat tight, but post-schedule change, it’s now right at the 55 minute minimum allowable threshold. If this connection is missed, the next Iberia MAD-VCE flight is more than 7 hours later.

Taking a look at FlightAware, the ORD-MAD flight appears to be at least 15-20 minutes late into Madrid way more often than not.

I’ve connected through Madrid terminal 4S to terminal 4 before, so I know the logistics of making this connection. I guess my question is if a slight delay winnows the connection time down to 30-40 minutes, will Iberia take any special measures? Like some sort of escort/bus/golf cart to speed up the transfer? Will they hold the MAD-VCE flight? Luggage will be carry-on only, no checked bags.

If the connection is missed due to a late start from ORD, it seems like this may qualify for €600 EU261 compensation for the total length of the journey?