Compensation for a Delayed Flight – How to Obtain Compensation for a Canceled Connecting Flight?

How to Calculate the Distance (Flight Length) for Compensation for a Delayed Flight?

The distances mentioned earlier should be measured using the route method known as orthodromic, i.e., the shortest path (in a straight line) between the departure airport and the destination airport.

To do this, you can use online calculators that allow you to fairly accurately determine the distance between the airports in question. Such a calculation should be printed out and kept, as it may be useful in a situation where – in a potential court proceeding – the airline challenges the distance we have indicated.

Compensation for a Canceled Flight – Under What Circumstances Are We Entitled to It?

Another issue that interests many passengers is compensation for a canceled flight. In the case of a flight cancellation, the rules regarding compensation, including distance, amounts, departure and destination locations, are identical to those I outlined in the context of delayed flights. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule – these apply in situations where:

• we were informed of the flight cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled departure time,
• we were informed of the flight cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled departure time, and we were offered a rebooking allowing us to depart no later than two hours before the scheduled departure and reach our destination no more than four hours after the scheduled arrival time,
• we were informed of the flight cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled departure time, and we were offered a rebooking allowing us to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled departure and reach our destination no more than two hours after the scheduled arrival time.

Therefore, if the airline does not take the necessary action and does not offer one of the options listed above, we are entitled to claim compensation for the canceled flight under the rules I described in the section concerning compensation for a delayed flight.

How to Obtain Compensation for a Delayed or Canceled Flight? The Statute of Limitations for Compensation Claims.

As of April 1, 2019, changes came into force, significantly reshaping the mechanisms for claiming compensation for delayed or canceled flights.

First, the strict, enforceable provisions that allowed the Civil Aviation Authority to compel an airline to pay the compensation due to the passenger were repealed.

Second, it was definitively decided that a passenger’s claim for compensation for a delayed or canceled flight expires, in principle, one year from the date the delayed flight took place or from the date the canceled flight was scheduled to take place. This is specified in Article 205c(7) of the Aviation Law. This issue had caused significant discrepancies over the years, leading to various court decisions in individual cases.

Regardless of the changes above, the first action to take after recovering from the journey is to prepare a formal demand for payment, in which the situation should be thoroughly described, including flight details, times, distances, and other circumstances.

How to obtain compensation for a canceled flight? As an attorney in Krakow with considerable experience in such cases, I am an advocate for preparing a comprehensive and complete demand for payment, including legal justification, and then sending it to the airline’s headquarters via traditional mail, with acknowledgment of receipt. This allows us to easily demonstrate the possible expiration of the statutory 30-day period from the delivery of the demand, which airlines have to respond to. This applies to both state carriers such as Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT or Lufthansa, as well as low-cost airlines like Ryanair, Wizz Air, or Enter Air.

This approach is based on practical considerations, as standard, brief complaints often filed by passengers themselves or by companies focusing solely on mass claims for such compensation tend to prompt airline claims departments to dismiss passengers, invoking unrealistic excuses aimed at reaching a theoretically amicable but practically almost forceful resolution, by pressuring the passenger into a completely unjustified reduction of their claim.

When the airline representative concludes, based on, for example, email correspondence with the passenger, that they are not aware of their rights and determines that – in the case of refusal to pay compensation – such a passenger will probably not pursue the matter further, they may be more willing to risk refusing compensation or simply ignore the passenger, which often happens with certain airlines.

Our compensation claim against the airline may, however, end at the stage of a solid demand for payment, or potentially through tough negotiations, in which we will have to make the airline representatives aware that we know our rights, and we know when the airline is truly justified in refusing compensation, etc. However, if the demand for payment or further negotiations are unsuccessful, and the airline ignores us or unjustifiably refuses to pay, we have two possible courses of action.

1. Seeking assistance from the Passenger Rights Ombudsman, who will review our case under the Consumer Dispute Resolution Act. This procedure, as of April 1, 2019, replaced the procedure for filing a complaint with the President of the Civil Aviation Authority, who had the power to compel the carrier to pay a specific amount to the passenger within a specified time. The advantage of the procedure before the Ombudsman is that we can file a complaint free of charge. The main downside, however, is that the airline is under no obligation to participate in this procedure, and if it does participate, the Ombudsman has no means of influencing the airline’s position, nor can they issue any binding decision upon which we could base our compensation claim. The only threat to the airline could be the potential penalty for violating our rights imposed by the President of the Civil Aviation Authority. For these reasons, it is worth seriously considering whether to forgo the Ombudsman route and opt for the second option.
2. Filing a civil lawsuit against the airline, which may be preceded by a call for a settlement attempt. Filing a lawsuit not only interrupts the very short statute of limitations (one year) but also enables the effective pursuit of interest for delay (calculated from the expiration of the 30-day period from the delivery of the demand for payment) and the costs of hiring an attorney, which are determined based on a range of factors, including, for example, the amount we are seeking from the carrier.

In some cases, the court may issue a so-called payment order without even holding a single hearing. Regardless of the procedure, a final payment order or a final court judgment constitutes an enforceable title, and we can consistently enforce the debt from the airline if they fail to voluntarily settle it.

It is worth noting that the lack of a boarding pass does not deprive us of the right to claim our compensation. We can prove that we were passengers of the flight through witness testimony, and we can also request in the lawsuit that the airline provide the list of passengers.

There is also no obstacle for several people (e.g., a family or friends traveling together) to pursue their claims in one lawsuit.