Have you forgotten we are talking about Europe here, a hopeless nanny state where everything is someone else’s fault for which “just compensation” is de rigueur?
3 Likes
Insanity.
How much later?
It does make sense. The weather event was over, and did not cause the flight to be cancelled. The flight was cancelled due to staffing.
A pretty strong argument can be made either way. It’s an interesting question, if the compensation exclusion is limited to the direct event, or also applies to a series of subsequent events. But if the airline rejected the claim, I’d think gaining anything will be a uphill climb.
2 Likes
Wouldn’t you need more facts? A weather delay could cause many illegal crews. It’s possible they used their reserve crews for the other flights.
2 Likes
Which part? Seriously, I’m willing to consider arguments in the airline’s favor (of this scenario in particular and the EU rule in general).
I’d buy that explanation if the airline provided a reasonable accounting of their staffing levels versus impacted flights.
3 Likes
Gosh, I normally think of European air travel as a laboratory of laissez-faire innovation:
- An Irish entrepreneur invented duty-free shopping and the idea of industrial free zones adjacent to airports
- The 2006 European Common Aviation Area represents a massive free-market experiment under which airlines from dozens of different countries are allowed to operate fifth-freedom service, profoundly dismantling antique, protectionist cabotage rules
- Sterile transit allows visa-free air travel for foreign nationals between two other countries – while they are still security screened and tracked meticulously, they can transit without being allowed in – which improves revenue opportunity for airlines who want to transit Europe with passengers who might not be allowed to stay in Europe
These and other exciting free-market experiments hardly seem like the overbearing dicta of a top-down nanny-state. Meanwhile, in the US, you can’t buy a ticket on the Qantas flight from JFK-LAX because lawmakers are afraid that you might like the trip too much and stop booking American.
3 Likes
You can’t buy a flight on an American airline’s metal solely from Melbourne to Sydney either. This is common. Look up cabotage.
3 Likes
About 6 hours after the initial flight was supposed to depart
OP had the option for a full refund of that portion of the trip. That is essentially the “fee” that Lufthansa is charged. Instead, OP decided to take a later flight.
I’m not saying it’s “fair,” because if you’re trying to fly somewhere, it’s really a false option, but it is still an option. But it’s the way air travel works.
1 Like
Lufthansa is standing by their decision. Next step is to start the process over with Airhelp and see if they can get me anything. I have nothing to lose.
1 Like
I would’t put in much effort for a 6 hour delay. Just hand it over to one of those services and expect nothing. That way any money is considered a win.
7 Likes
For free with your preferred travel card 
I’ve never heard of a successful eu261 claim when the initial cause of the delay was weather or atc. They’re unlikely to give up the comp voluntarily, but they do have a nexus in the US if you want to sue them. I wouldn’t bother, personally.
If you booked with a premium credit card like CSR or Citi Prestige, I’d claim for any meals or incidentals you incurred.
2 Likes
But what was the delay that was not due to weather? i.e. how much later from when the weather permitted for the flight to go ahead, but they found out the crew could not fly?
1 Like
The OP states they re-boarded the plane after an hour delay due to weather. The argument can be made that at that point the weather delay was over. It was only after they were back on the plane and once again ready to leave, when the flight was then cancelled. At the very least, they should’ve known the flight crew was unable to fly before re-boarding everyone.
I know they run tight schedules, but a one hour delay seems pretty short to cause a crew to time out of a flight? Sounds like they were already walking a pretty fine line to get the flight off as scheduled.
3 Likes
It’s not unheard of. Perhaps boarding took too long. Perhaps, because of that they got put into the penalty box and were going to have to wait a lot longer to take off. Perhaps there was some change in weather along the route that was going to increase flight time that they weren’t aware of until after boarding. I’m not familiar with non - US procedures, but at least in the US that’s not crazy to have to deplane after boarding, especially in weather delays.
1 Like
Final update: Airhelp won’t touch this claim either.
3 Likes