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I think I disagree on the flight having been canceled. I'd have assumed the distinguishing factor between a flight cancellation vs. rescheduling isn't the fligh
by mehrdadn 6y ago
I think I disagree on the flight having been canceled. I'd have assumed the distinguishing factor between a flight cancellation vs. rescheduling isn't the flight number (a flight number seems like an immaterial bookkeeping abstraction?), but rather, whether a replacement flight offers seats to all of the passengers of the first flight. It seems they did this, as they say in their text message. As far as semantics is concerned, this is where it ends for me.
Looking at it from a practical standpoint, the company still incurred the same costs of the original flight just at a later time, and they had reserved seats for all the passengers, so it doesn't make sense for them to compensate as if the replacement flight had never taken place at all. [1] Had the author contacted them to let them know he wouldn't be showing up, they could've had a chance to agree and even to give his seat to someone else... but he just decided not to just not show up. At that point it doesn't make sense to get compensated as if the company had just let the seat disappear into thin air (no pun intended). [1]
[1] It seems people are misreading my comment to mean I think he shouldn't be compensated at all. I'm not saying he shouldn't be compensated. ("As if" is the key phrase here.) I'm saying any compensation he receives should be for the flight being delayed, not canceled—whatever amount might be appropriate for each.
- lmarcos 6y agoBut the replacement flight was scheduled for the next morning... That means that the passenger loses time and money (hotel/food?). Why wouldn't the airline company compensate this?
- mehrdadn 6y agoI edited to clarify. I'm not saying the airline shouldn't compensate this. Rather, that the compensation shouldn't be as if the replacement flight never happened—it should be as if the replacement flight did happen. i.e. I'm saying the complaint falls under "I disagree on the amount, I think it's too low" rather than "I disagree on the nature of the event entirely".
- Closi 6y agoAirlines do compensate this - Usually in Europe the airline will actually directly arrange the hotel / accommodation and will offer the food in terms of vouchers to spend within the airport, rather than allow passengers to spend and then claim it back. I suspect all this happened in OPs case. If you make your own arrangements then this isn’t usually covered.
- rkachowski 6y agoI feel it makes perfect sense to compensate, as the company now has a clear financial disincentive to allow faulty aircraft to be in service. Regardless of dancing around the semantics of cancellation, a severe problem was discovered in an aircraft forcing it to reland and delaying all passengers involved. If such an event is sufficiently costly for the airline then safety and maintenance measures will have to be increased.
- mehrdadn 6y agoI wasn't saying he shouldn't be compensated. I'm saying the compensation should account for the replacement flight he was provided. (See my edit.) And I'm not "dancing around the semantics of cancellation"—he's the one doing that. The entire point of my second paragraph is to look at it from a more practical standpoint instead of at semantics.
- Closi 6y agoThe difference in the semantics is that one legally requires 250 euros to be given to the customer, and the other requires them to arrange a hotel, provide food and potentially issue a refund. It’s also worth noting that delays currently result in large costs for airlines, and there is already an incredibly strong motive to stop delays and issues happening.
- AceyMan 6y ago>a flight number seems like an immaterial bookkeeping abstraction Not when it comes to airline operations. Crews are assigned to flight numbers; changing their assigned flight number, even to the same route/city-pair, constitutes a schedule change, which requires a recalculation of all their duty hours. When operations are all fubar and your crews are out of position you cannot afford to limit your options. Ergo, changing the flight numbers often has knock-on effects related to the crew regulations that are best avoided.
- mehrdadn 6y agoI meant immaterial to the passenger, not immaterial in absoluteness. If the airline changed the flight number but still flew the same passengers to the same destination at the same time, you wouldn't say the flight has gotten canceled, right? I'm saying caring about the flight number is breaking the abstraction relevant to the passenger. The passenger isn't purchasing a flight number; he's purchasing a flight. What matters to the passenger is that the flight happens, not that a flight with a particular number happens.
- AceyMan 6y agoI think you rubber-ducked yourself so well you obviated your initial question. My answer still stands and may be considered authoritative (webarchive hint).
- londons_explore 6y agoI believe in this case the difference should be immaterial... A delay of over 3 hours, and a cancellation have the same compensation amount.
- mehrdadn 6y agoWhat is the compensation for each? Is it 250 EUR for both?