Who is responsible for flight delays caused by emergencies?
My mother-in-law is flying today from Tbilisi to London on Turkish Airlines with a transfer in Istanbul. This morning, there was an emergency in Istanbul airport whereby a plane landed there with an engine on fire. This naturally wrecked havoc on all flights in and out of Istanbul with pretty much all flights delayed and many flights cancelled.
Her flight from Tbilisi to Istanbul is delayed (initially) for 2 hours and the flight from Istanbul to London is already showing as being delayed for about 8 hours. As a result, she'll be arriving to London (if things continue as they are now) about 6 am tomorrow morning instead of 10:30 pm tonight.
In a situation like that, who is responsible for passenger subsistence due to these delays? Is the expectation that the airline will at least provide meal/meal vouchers to the passengers who are delayed during the transfer?
If that matters, the plane with the engine on fire belonged to the same Turkish Airlines, so it could be argued that the delay is their fault.
Update: the flight from Tbilisi is now delayed for 4 hours.
Update 2: She finally made it to London about 6:40 am today, instead of 10:30 pm last night. They were not offered any food vouchers nor even water. A bottle of water in the terminal cafe was about GBP 4 (USD $6). The whole Istanbul airport was an absolute mess. The reason for the delay was not even mentioned to the passengers. I'll be taking this up with the airline now that she is here.
Best Answer
As a legal responsibilty issue, you will likely find that an aircraft fire would be considered an extraordinary circumstance for all flights using the airport at that time, thus relieving the airlines of compensatory requirements. Even if it ultimately is traced to a maintenance issue, it doesn't fall under the same compensation rules as a delay caused by a repair being done.
Many airlines will help out delayed passengers with food vouchers and such in this scenario, so never hurts to ask.
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Who is responsible for delayed flight?
What is the airline's responsibility to a passenger for a delayed or canceled flight? The airline only has to put the passenger on the next flight that has open seats. That's really the airline's only obligation, outside of a possible refund (see the next question).How long does a flight delay have to be to get compensation?
You can usually get compensation if: you booked both flights as a single booking. you were delayed for more than 3 hours. the delay was the airline's fault.Are airlines required to compensate for delays?
There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed. Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers. If your flight is experiencing a long delay, ask airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room.What is considered a extraordinary circumstances?
Extraordinary Circumstances means factors not normally incident to or foreseeable during an administrative proceeding. It includes circumstances beyond a party's control that normal prudence and experience could not foresee, anticipate or provide for.Worst Airports and Airlines for Delays - 10 Travel Tips on Flight Disruption
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Answer 2
Turkish Airlines actually put some information about passenger rights on their homepage. It somewhat similar to the EU legislation, with the exception that there are no compensation payments for delays (only for cancellations).
According to those, they should be responsible for meals and, if needed, accommodation.
Istanbul airport is can be a mess, though Turkish Airlines has some procedures in place to resolve those things. However, I'd not expect to be offered anything - better to go and explicitly ask for a solution.
EC Regulation 261/2004 doesn't apply here, so don't expect any compensation on top of meal vouchers and a rebooking.
Answer 3
It absolutely depends on whether the emergency situation created could be controlled by the airline or it was an "Extraordinary Circumstance", for example, the engine failure may because of a bird strike in which the airlines could not do anything. For such a case, you aren't eligible for a compensation.
Taking into consideration the EC Regulation 261/2004 the final time on the arrival airport is calculated. So if you reach your final destination (i.e. London) with a delay of 3 hours or more then you are eligible to claim compensation from Turkish airlines. The compensation amount can vary with respect to the distance and time of delay. Generally, you can claim up to 600€ from the Airlines. This is what the EC Regulation 261/2004 states - If your flight delays for more than 3 hours on arrival or gets canceled without prior notification or you were denied boarding due to an overbooked flight or you missed the connecting flight due to current flight delay, you may get up to $700 (600€) from airlines as per EC Regulation 261/2004.
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