Airline delays compensation - courts rule in passengers' favour

(3/11/14) Jet2 loses appeal over compensation for delay caused by technical faults, setting a precedent for hundreds of thousands of other potential compensation cases

The airline industry is facing a possible £650million compensation bill after the Court of Appeal held up a verdict against budget flight operator Jet2 over a claim for a delayed flight caused by a technical fault with the aircraft.

Until now, airlines have always successfully argued that technical faults or maintenance issues were exceptional circumstances. They were therefore outside of the control of the airline and – crucially – passengers would be unable to get any recompense for the delay.

That has now changed – the courts have again said these circumstances are not exceptional, so if it’s happened to you, then you can now claim for compensation under the EU delayed flight act.

Now, if you claim for a flight delayed by more than three hours, the airline cannot use maintenance issues or technical faults as an excuse not to pay up.

The judgement against Jet2 has retrospective implications, too, as you can resubmit an unsuccessful claim for compensation, or claim for the first time, on any delayed flight taken over the past six years (or five in Scotland).

You can do this yourself via Resolver
– you don’t need to use a claims management company, who will take up to 30% of your compensation.