For clarity, AA didn't directly tell me that weather was the reason. I read it on ExpertFlyer....which I assume is getting that info from AA - I perhaps shoud've made that clearer. I had no idea there were multiple delays and bad weather at DFW itself - I didn't check - I was too busy trying to get my rescheduled flight ticketed.

It was BA incedentally who called me up to say that my BA flight had not been ticketed....but they couldn't tell me why. I went to AA's check in desks and they were incredibly unhelpful and said there was nothing they could do, so I went back to my hotel room to skype call AA again, who eventually figured out that it hadn't been ticketed because I'd already checked into the Iberia flight, so they needed to call IB 'uncheck' me in from that before re-booking me onto BA....fair play to the BA Gold line agent for spotting this, else I doubt I would've made that flight either.

Claim made for downgrade and delay. But I'm not expecting delay compensation, and really it doesn't bother me as I actually got home sooner, it's more to do with the inconvenience of missing my MAD meeting....but weather is weather, I'm not going to push back if that is the reason it was delayed....that's life!

As a data point I will report back once AA respond....

If you only got "incredibly unhelpful" then you probably got the best AA's ground staff have to offer. I find them utterly dreadful, passive aggressive, and putting the cus in customer service. I am serious contemplating a future where I might avoid these walking/talking vasopressors.

iiuc isn't the onus on the operator to provide evidence to justify their claim rather than the passenger to refute it? If the frequency of disruptions caused by storms at a given airport is a normal event then it is, surely, not an abnormal event and a decision to delay rather than lease is then surely a commercial one?

I am very far from being an expert here, but my understanding is that the practical definition of "extraordinary circumstances" is "beyond the control of the carrier", and has almost nothing to do with the frequency of the event. See for example euclaim.com, which says "We refer to an extraordinary circumstance when the airline isn’t at fault for a flight delay or cancellation." The actual text of the act is "Such [extraordinary] circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of [...] meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned", without any qualifier for the rarity or commonness of the bad weather. So I believe afternoon thunderstorms at DFW are considered "extraordinary circumstances", even though they are of course very ordinary in the plain sense of the word. The act does require that the circumstances "could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", which I guess is held to apply to weather at DFW or really anywhere.

(And conversely, the Huzar decision determined that tech failures are _not_ extraordinary circumstances, despite potentially being very infrequent.)

The experts in the BA forum have clear answers based on the extensive case law for lots of questions of this type.

That's similar to what I have read, with the exception that "normal conditions" need to taken into account. Thus a snow storm in the height of summer might be extraordinary, but violent thunderstorms in a place that gets them every Friday afternoon at 1430 are not.

But, of course, IANAL.

I found this thread due to the same question. I sent an email on April 23rd regarding my canceled flight CDG-ORD on Sunday April 21, which I was rebooked on the April 22nd flight. I got (what I assume) was an automated message with 10,000 miles on April 30. I have sent two emails since then and have heard nothing.

What compensation are u expecting ?

I would assume that he is looking for the EER600 compensation assuming it was < 14 days before departure that the cancellation occurred - very different to 10,000 FF miles

Strange coincidence, but my wife was on the 4/22 flight CDG-ORD, and while checking on EF for hers, I randomly checked your 4/21 flight and saw the cancellation. Interestingly, the further details tab stated “operational decision.” I have never seen that description before and have no idea what it means. Maintenance, weather, ATC I get. Operational is a bit vague, and while I didn’t grab a screenshot, feel free to quote me.