Who is in the right??

Hotfuss73

Hi I hope someone can help me.
I was booked by my company on a flight to central Europe and it was cancelled before we got on board. Our company of course received the flight money back but off my own back I contacted a company called AirHelp and through them I was awarded €140 compensation.
My employer has now told me they have tried to claim that compensation themselves and then found out I already claimed. I was called to an internal meeting whereby I was told this was 'underhand' and actually the compensation I received was owed to my employer and not me, as they were the ones inconvenienced and not me.....I was most shocked and surprised and said I would have thought the compensation would go to the person affected by the cancelled flight and not the person that paid for the flight. My employer has said that actually the compensation I received should have been given to them as the person that booked and paid for the flights - on this occasion they won't ask me for the money back but they are writing it into our travel policy that no one is allowed to claim compensation in the future.
I honestly am shocked to think this is really correct - surely it's the passenger that should receive the compo because they were the ones inconvenienced?
I contacted AirHelp and they have confirmed this:

According to the EC261/2004 EU regulation, that we base our operations on, compensation for disrupted flights is awarded to the passengers of the said flight. It does not matter who has paid for their tickets.

Is it possible anyone can confirm for sure who is in the right? I believe my employer can write what they want into their travel policy but I feel as though I have been made to feel I was in the wrong and I don't think I am!! Can anyone help please?

k3lvc

Hotfuss73 wrote: »

Hi I hope someone can help me.
I was booked by my company on a flight to central Europe and it was cancelled before we got on board. Our company of course received the flight money back but off my own back I contacted a company called AirHelp and through them I was awarded €140 compensation.
My employer has now told me they have tried to claim that compensation themselves and then found out I already claimed. I was called to an internal meeting whereby I was told this was 'underhand' and actually the compensation I received was owed to my employer and not me, as they were the ones inconvenienced and not me.....I was most shocked and surprised and said I would have thought the compensation would go to the person affected by the cancelled flight and not the person that paid for the flight. My employer has said that actually the compensation I received should have been given to them as the person that booked and paid for the flights - on this occasion they won't ask me for the money back but they are writing it into our travel policy that no one is allowed to claim compensation in the future.
I honestly am shocked to think this is really correct - surely it's the passenger that should receive the compo because they were the ones inconvenienced?
I contacted AirHelp and they have confirmed this:

According to the EC261/2004 EU regulation, that we base our operations on, compensation for disrupted flights is awarded to the passengers of the said flight. It does not matter who has paid for their tickets.

Is it possible anyone can confirm for sure who is in the right? I believe my employer can write what they want into their travel policy but I feel as though I have been made to feel I was in the wrong and I don't think I am!! Can anyone help please?

As someone who took 200+ flights last years on behalf of my company I think you're on dodgy ground and an element of pragmatism is needed.

We too don't have a written policy but do have an expectation that anything over and above genuine expenses (meals/additional transport etc) is passed back to company (and ours would be even easier to hold onto compo as we pay for flight tickets our own cards and then claim back)

Interested to hear others views

Bogalot

This does come across as an abuse of goodwill, at the very least you should have checked with your employer before claiming.

I'd be very careful how you handle this in future, breach of company policy could be sufficient for summary dismissal.

phatbear

And whilst you were being inconvenienced were you being paid by your employer ie were you on company time? If so you havent got a leg to stand on as its inconvenient for your employer to not have you fly where ever you were supposed to go, you on the other hand, got paid to mooch about at an airport.

Tyzap

Yes it's a bit of a tricky one, but your company could not claim it on your behalf as it would only be paid to the inconvenienced passenger, no matter who paid for the ticket.

Having said that, if you were also being paid by your company during the time you were delayed, then morally, if not necessarily legally, you should pass it back to them if they want it.

Of course they should also allow you the time to complete the claim in that case.

Hotfuss73

Thanks everyone, it's certainly a grey area. I know that in terms of my contract at work, I am paid no more for unsociable hours (and the hours in question were 4am - 10am) but it's a given that sometimes I do these hours if travelling.


I think the point I was trying to make was that they are not able to claim that compensation for themselves if it's for the passenger....sounds like they can't.


I guess it's a lesson learned; I certainly didn't do it maliciously and they realise that, but it did stick in my throat somewhat :-)

Vauban

The legal position is clear, in that the compensation is due to the passenger who experienced the delay - not the person or entity who purchased the ticket.

However, the purpose of the compensation, as expressly stated in the Regulation, is to compensate for the loss of one's time. So if the passenger was "on the clock" and has not suffered personal detriment (ie the delayed period covers the entire time they would ordinarily be paid) I think it would not be unreasonable for the company to ask for the money to be paid back. Whether they have a legal entitlement, however, is much less clear.

And of course if the delay caused you personal inconvenience or a loss of your own time, "off the clock", then I think you could argue you had a moral as well as legal right to keep it. In the final analysis though is it worth irritating your employer for?

k3lvc

As I've watched the responses and considered this I've had more of a think - my instances have generally been on outbound or mid-trip sectors - maybe on an inbound which was going to delay my return home and eat into my personal time I'd be having a discussion with employer re some pragmatism/understanding