A 27-Hour Delay: Compensation, Duty of Care and the Agency's Position
Four passengers (two adults, children aged 6 and 9) booked through your agency fly Dublin–New York on 12 June, returning 19 June. At 22:00 on 11 June the airline cancels the outbound, citing a technical fault found in a fuel pump during pre-flight checks, and rebooks them on a flight departing 26 hours later that arrives 27 hours behind the original schedule. The family spends the night at the airport; the airline gives them €10 vouchers and refuses hotel costs, saying the cancellation was caused by an aircraft defect, which it calls an extraordinary circumstance beyond its control. The family had prepaid a non-refundable New York hotel for the first night at $260. They ask what they are entitled to and whether the agency can claim for them.
1. Advise on compensation and care, showing the figures and the reasoning.
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Applies: the flight departs from an EU airport, so the passenger-rights regime (EC 261/2004) applies to any carrier on that route. The cancellation was notified far less than 14 days before departure, so the notice exemption does not help the airline.
1. Is the cause extraordinary? No, on these facts. A technical defect discovered during pre-flight checks is treated as an ordinary operational risk inherent in running an airline. The carrier is not excused merely by calling it "beyond our control"; it would need to show the fault flowed from an event outside its control (for example a bird strike or sabotage). The €10 vouchers are goodwill, not a legal entitlement.
2. Fixed compensation. Dublin–New York is roughly 5,100 km, i.e. more than 3,500 km, so the band is €600 per passenger (no reduction for children). 4 × €600 = €2,400. The 50% reduction available for re-routing does not apply: it requires arrival within 4 hours of the original time and they are 27 hours late.
3. Duty of care - owed regardless of cause. Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, hotel accommodation plus transfers where a stay is necessary, and two calls/emails. The airline's refusal of the hotel is wrong even if the cause had been extraordinary - care is not excused by extraordinary circumstances.
4. Alternative rights: instead of re-routing they could have taken a full reimbursement of the ticket and a return flight to Dublin if relevant. They chose re-routing, so that is settled.
2. Would your answer change if the cause had been (a) a bird strike damaging the engine on the inbound flight, or (b) fog closing Dublin?
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(a) Bird strike - likely extraordinary. A collision with birds is an external event outside the carrier's normal control, and this has been accepted as capable of being an extraordinary circumstance. Fixed compensation would probably fall away. Two caveats: the carrier must still show it took all reasonable measures to avoid the delay (for example reasonable availability of a replacement aircraft), and duty of care continues - meals, hotel, transfers and communications must still be provided.
(b) Fog - extraordinary. Severe weather is the classic extraordinary circumstance; no fixed compensation, but again the care obligation stands.
Why the distinction matters commercially: the difference between the three scenarios is €2,400, and the airline will not volunteer it. The agent's value is in identifying whether the stated cause survives scrutiny, asking the carrier to explain the cause in writing, and not simply relaying "the airline says no". In all three scenarios the client's immediate need - a hotel bed - is the same, and the answer should be the same: claim it.
3. What is the agency's position, how should the claim be handled, and what about the $260 hotel?
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Agency's position. If you sold the flights as an agent for the carrier, the compensation obligation is the operating carrier's, not yours - you did not cancel the flight. Two things can change that: (i) if you sold flights plus accommodation as a single package, you are the organiser and package-travel liability (and insolvency protection) sit with you; (ii) if you gave negligent advice, for example told them the flight was operating, your own exposure arises. Confirm which basis the booking was made on before answering the client.
Handling the claim:
- File with the operating carrier in writing, within the airline's stated claims window, enclosing booking references, the cancellation notice and boarding passes/rebooking confirmation. Put it in the passengers' names, not the agency's.
- If refused or ignored, escalate to the national enforcement body for the departure country; mention it in the second letter - it is usually what produces a settlement.
- Keep the client informed and set expectations on timeline; note the national limitation period rather than assuming a short deadline.
- Record all advice in the file.
The $260 hotel. This is consequential loss, not covered by the fixed-compensation regime; it is pursued as a separate claim against the carrier, through the prepaid hotel's own terms, or through travel insurance. Say so plainly rather than bundling it into the compensation claim, and do not promise recovery.