Delta Airlines Delays: This is what you get

Passengers may receive more than $600 for the delays and cancellations caused by the Delta Airlines outage.

After the global computer system outage at Delta Airlines has caused tens of thousands of passengers to miss their business meetings, reunion with loved ones or their first day on the job, it’s time for a summary of the legal situation and the important next steps passengers should take now.

So what is Delta doing? After initially only publishing their waiver information (allowing passengers to rebook flights at no fee, but with important caveats), Delta has now offered a compensation in the form of a travel voucher, valued at $200.

Passengers interested in receiving the voucher (and thereby passing their rights to other forms of compensation) can simply fill out the form here and will receive the compensation in 7 to 10 business days. Severely delayed or cancelled flights might also be eligible for a full ticket price refund.

While this seems like a generous gesture compared to other airlines suffering similiar problems, taking the offer provided by Delta might not be enough to compensate for the missed appointments or worse, valuable vacation time that was spent standing around at an airport.

Also, not every passenger is interested in flying with Delta again, or simply has a need to do so. Luckily for passengers, other opportunities exist.

Cash compensation may be paid depending on the starting and landing airport of the purchased flight.

For flights within the USA, standard consumer protection rules apply — there are no federal regulations. Airlines do not have to guarantee their schedules and as such, passengers should expect no recompense for delays. If you are currently at the airport, you might want to ask at other airline desks whether they have capacity and then request Delta to endorse the new ticket, as this could save you a fare collection.

By law, passengers in the USA are only required to be compensated if they are bumped from a flight that has been oversold, payment for financial losses resulting from a delayed flight are almost never compensated. The delays at Delta did simply lead to cancellations or delays — few passengers were bumped due to the flight being oversold (although this may happen in the coming days). If you are in this situation, you will likely receive a payment offer at the gate, which generally is priced fair enough to solve the issue. You’ll find the relevant — and lengthy — details here.

600 EUR, 400 EUR or 250 EUR (about $665, $440 or $275, respectively) will have to be paid for passengers on planes starting in the EU, as the rules are different. If you have been on a delayed flight and arrived with 3 or 4 hours of delay at your final destination (whether that was inside the EU or outside, e.g. FRA, JFK or ATL doesn’t matter), you are entitled to a compensation that could be more than the price of your ticket.

Obviously, the value of your time is hard to estimate (vacation vs. work), but unless you’ve been delayed for more than a day, the payments will appear fair to most.

Payment values will differ depending on the distance flown. With at least 3 hours of delay passengers will receive 250 EUR ($275) on distances below 1.500 km and 400 EUR ($440) on distances between 1.500 and 3.500 km and above. The 3.500 km threshold is relevant in case your delay has exceeded 4 hours — the compensation is then increased to 600 EUR ($665).

While the cash compensation sounds great, a small obstacle is to be expected. Delta is unlikely to simply transfer the payment, even if required by law, unless forced to do so by a court order. According to our own experiences, airlines are very stingy when it comes to payments, and will require some guidance to make things right.

You have three options to get a compensation:

• Write a letter to Delta, stating your name, flight and problem, and requesting compensation within 14 days according to Regulation EC 261/2004. Include your bank account details and let them know that you will press this matter via the relevant courts if your rights are not honored. Depending on Delta’s internal risk assessment and your passenger profile, they might pay you immediately. In most cases — and with most other airlines we have fought — the airline does however simply provide a standard response template that provides an excuse for the issue, denying payment. Due to the global publicity Delta has seen on this case, they might choose to pay straight away, but if not, two other options are open.
• Write the letter first, then hire a lawyer in Europe to request compensation for you. If the airline has not responded positively to your letter, they will have to pay the lawyer fees if you press the matter in court and win your case (which you most likely will, as the cause of the delay rests solely with the airline). If you lose the case — this is important for other situations — you might be stuck with the lawyer’s bill as well as the court fees, which should be around 250 EUR ($300).
• Finally, there are specialized service providers like www.flight-refund.com (my own company) that will either work with you on a no-win, no-fee agreement or that might purchase your claim in cash. In the second case, you will receive a wire transfer for a slightly smaller sum than the full claim value within a day or two, resolving the issue from your perspective. If you choose to task the provider on a percentage based contract, they will contact the airline on your behalf and press the matter in court, financing all required legal costs (at no risk for you). If you win, they keep a part of the payout, forwarding the rest to your account.

We will update this article if Delta is offering better compensation or if the laws in the USA change (political pressure to introduce better consumer protection can lead to changes, especially in the run-up to the election).

Any questions? Send an email to me at ms@flight-refund.com or leave a comment here. My team will be happy to support you: Click here to receive your cash offer.