OhDoctor

Sitting in the AA lounge because the departure was delayed due to an AC issue; didn't find this out until we arrived at JFK. It's currently 6:15PM, and all of the status boards in the lounge still say the flight is scheduled to depart at 5:40pm. The lounge staffers up front tell me there is currently no scheduled departure time, and it's basically open ended at this point.

Totally insane. How long can they keep us hostage at the airport without any e-mails/updates/timetables/etc? More importantly any recourse?

ajeleonard

OhDoctor

Just updated! I saw that as well. It continued to say 5:40 even after 5:40 passed. Fingers crossed!

ffay005

Don't worry, you'll be boarding at around 8:30 pm. (To claim a departure time of 8:30 pm is over-optimistic. The plane seems to land in a few minutes, so boarding at approx. 8:30 does seem reasonable, with departure at 9ish.)

When flying longhaul with AY from the outstation, I always check the inbound. Your inbound is 3 hours delayed. I agree that AY should have sent you an SMS/email (they usually do!). Didn't they tell you anything at check-in?

But hostage, oh my. Who's keeping you from walking straight out of that terminal, should you so wish?

OhDoctor

Two weeks of nonrefundable travel plans. Just an idiom -- obviously exaggerating.

That being said.. it's 8:20 and we're now being told there are still no plans to board the plane.

Often1

Status updated to 21:03, but also indicating making up 1:10 of the delay enroute.

Purjelentaja

If you were kept as hostage in the AA lounge waiting for LTU, I was being kept as "hostage" on the same plane at HEL some hours earlier. The plane obviously had some technical when arriving from NKG on previous day, and tech didn't get it finished by time of AY5 dep. Estimated delay was about one hour, and only some minutes after pushback we learned that now there was technical with the other engine. Two hours sitting in the plane at stand while the engine was being serviced, ending up to a 3h 2min delay on arrival to JFK. Good thing was that once the crew learned of the delay, they started service with drinks and amuse. Waiting went much nicer with free JP flow and didn't feel so much being a hostage anymore

AA Flagship lounge at T8 on my return was very positive surprise, btw, so if that's where you were been held as hostage, I could easily think of many other more unpleasant places for that

remymartin

^
Imagine if you had been kept hostage in Y, though

ffay005

My estimate turned out to be pretty accurate.
Have you claimed your EC261 already?

OhDoctor

I don't think I'm eligible for this, correct? My delay was at JFK, not HEL (or elsewhere in Europe).

EDIT: I guess I am. Oops! Filing my claim now. Thanks for the heads up!

OhDoctor

So, an update. I filed a grievance through AirHelp.org, initially hoping I would receive compensation in the ~1000 range (including AirHelp's fee). After about 30 days, Finnair settled the case for 50% compensation, which netted me 500 after AirHelp's share.

AirHelp accepted the reduced settlement, and I don't think I have any grounds to appeal based on what I signed when I went through them to grieve the delay. Reportedly, Finnair has the right to reduce the compensation by 50% under EC261/2004, Article 7, providing the airline provides re-routing to my final destination within 4 hours "on an alternative flight". I don't really get this, seeing as the original bird took us to Helsinki, so by a strict interpretation I was not re-routed on an alternate flight. But whatever -- it's found money. So props to ffay005!