seenitall

Given that (under Wegener), EC261 compensation applies based on your time of arrival at your final destination on your ticket, I wonder if airlines with flights departing from the EU will eventually decide not to include connecting flights on the ex-EU ticket. Thus, rather than selling you a FRA-IAD-MCO ticket, they will sell you two tickets, one FRA-IAD, and the other IAD-MCO. Further, they could adjust their T&Cs to note that if you had such a dual ticket, they will afford you all of the IRROPs protections that single tickets have provided. This would free them from EC261 financial responsibility for down-line delays. Is this practical?

Of course the downside of this is when the ex-EU flight is late, but a sufficient buffer exists in the connection time that the connector is made, and the Pax arrives at his final destination within the alloted interval.

jsloan

No, it isn't. In order to do that and keep fares competitive, they'd have to cut the fares into hubs dramatically. Currently, it's often a lot cheaper to fly, say, AUS-IAH-FRA than it is IAH-FRA.

I expect we'll continue to see airfare rise TATL as airlines continue to factor the cost of EU.261 into their pricing structure. IMO, the only reason that this hasn't already happened is that claim rates are so low.

threeoh

They may change nothing operationally and increase prices to factor in paying out EUR 600, or they may also increase prices to allow for a more robust operation (more reserve frames, more reserve crews, longer turn times). The result may be slightly more expensive but much more reliable TATL air travel.

That's what it's intended to do, anyhow.

jsloan

How many reserve frames and crews do you need to deal with snowstorms and hurricanes? The expansion of the regulation to include flights affected by weather has pretty much guaranteed that the only sensible strategy is the former (or, at best, some mixture of the two).

But, UA is not going to hold extra frames and crews in reserve in ORD because of connecting European passengers with EU.261 rights. It's not feasible economically. So, the specific result of Wegener is almost certainly increased airfare specifically used to pay the claims of people who know their rights and request the compensation.

Aussienarelle

I think claims are going to increase. Every UA flight I get a notice to contact if my plane is late and there are notices posted at every EU airport checkin.

I have noticed that after a raft of claims a couple of years ago I no longer seem to be on flights that suffer significant delays out of the EU.

jsloan

UA's on-time numbers are significantly better across the board. I doubt it has anything to do with EU.261 specifically -- they're improved their operations for competitive and cost-saving reasons, and reduction in EU.261 comp is a nice bonus.

sannmann

I think the benefit of the Wegener decision is that it's going to require United (and other U.S. carriers) to improve operations within the United States, or otherwise risk claims from passengers who had originated within the EU. Ultimately, that's a good thing for passengers who may not have originated within the EU.

jsloan

It's not, though. Transit passengers from the EU make up a tiny percentage of US carriers' travelers. They'll simply bump the fares up a little bit and carry on as normal.

And, "it's a good thing" depends upon your point of view. One way to improve operations would be to cut the summer schedule by 20% and increase fares correspondingly. Be careful what you wish for.

sannmann

HNLbasedFlyer

I see a lot of posts about this Wegener decision - has anyone actually gotten paid based on Wegener on UA - or any of the US carriers?

dmk68

United was great - They came back and said they could meet my request for 600€ per person (1800€) but could also offer 27500mi or $900 travel voucher.....took the Euros and will have it within 14 days.

threeoh

Now we have a new data point:

mpiotrow

I had a flight yesterday LHR-AAA-BBB (both AAA and BBB are in the US, and both flights were on UA). LHR-AAA was on time (slightly early arrival, in fact), but AAA-BBB ended up having a mechanical delay for a couple hours, and then UA switched planes and used an incoming plane from another city. In the end, AAA-BBB was delayed 5 hours 1 minute, causing me to arrive at BBB just under 5 hours later than I was scheduled to. Am I due anything from EU261 through United in addition to the compensation email from UnitedCares that I already received?

If so, how do I go about filing that information? I've only filed for EU261 one time, and it was about 2 years ago, so I don't remember what all I need to. I read through the Wiki, but I don't see any link with specific contact info. Do I just email CustomerCare, or fill out the online contact form, etc?

threeoh

Yes, under the Wegener decision (see above).

Yes, normal Customer Care form, just mention EU261. State you were delayed 5 hours bcs of mechanical and are seeking EU261 comp.

jsloan

OP: Please report back whether or not UA cooperates. The decision is fairly new and the frontline agents may not have been trained on it. I don't doubt that you would prevail in court, but I certainly hope it doesn't come to that.