Imagine this: you’ve booked a flight to Miami to take the cruise of a lifetime. But, as luck would have it, there’s a mechanical problem with your plane and your flight gets delayed. Due to the delay, you missed your cruise. Can you sue the airline for the money you spent on the cruise-that-never-was?
Contracts and Conventions on Delayed Flights
Most, if not all, commercial airline contracts have a term like this:
We undertake to use our best efforts to ensure that you and your baggage get to your destination in a reasonable time and to adhere to our published schedule.”
This really means that the airline is specifically NOT guaranteeing to get you to your destination at the exact time that you scheduled. They are only promising to make their very best effort to do so.
These contracts also usually reference the Montreal Convention 1999. The Montreal Convention 1999 is an international agreement that outlines an airlines’ liability to its passengers in certain cases. In Article 19, where there is a delay, the airline can avoiding paying for damages caused by the delay if they can show that they took all measures reasonably required to avoid the damage, for e.g. by providing an alternative flight, or that it was impossible to avoid the damage, for e.g. if the delays was caused by customs or border control.
Circumstances of the delay
When your flight was delayed, there are two possible scenarios:
- The airline tried its very best to get you another flight or it had no way to do so.
- The flight was delayed and all that was done was a shoulder-shrug and “oops”.
In the first scenario, the airline can rely on the Convention. In the second, they may be in trouble but this is a highly fact-specific area of law.
Disclaimer: The information in this article does not constitute legal advice. As always, we urge you to seek legal advice from a qualified attorney, as each case turns on its on facts.