GermanWings cancellation due to pilot rotas

ciderman1

I'm looking for advise on flight compensation for a cancelled flight.

I was flying from Stuttgart to Vienna in May and there was a thunder storm about 1 to 2 hours before my flight. It cleared but there were some delays with air traffic control.

My flight was delayed by approx. 1 hour, then we boarded the aircraft. The first message came from the flight deck that we would be delayed for a further period, but we would stay in the plane. Then a second message from the flight deck that the flight was cancelled because the new expected arrival time in Vienna was beyond the pilot's allocated flying hours for the day.

The flight was cancelled 1 hour 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.

German Wings say they won't give any (EC) No 261/2004 compensation as the root cause of the cancellation was air traffic control restrictions.

Although this may be true, can it be argued that the airline should have enough flexibility in it's scheduling to not cancel a flight 1h30 mins after it's expected departure?

I look forward to hearing any advice and I hope my explanation makes sense! Thank you.

The_Fat_Controller

On the pilot hours issue, they could well have been done several previous flights, so cancellation for that reason is entirely justified if the flight would put them over their legal duty time.

I am sure you will get other opinions on weather and ATC delays regarding "exceptional circumstances"

ciderman1

The_Fat_Controller wrote: »

On the pilot hours issue, they could well have been done several previous flights, so cancellation for that reason is entirely justified if the flight would put them over their legal duty time.

I am sure you will get other opinions on weather and ATC delays regarding "exceptional circumstances"

Thanks - yes I totally agree and understand with the reasoning when it comes to pilot hours - however I'm wondering if, from a compensation view, it is something that is to a certain extend within airline's control, in that they should create rota's that have sufficient flexibility for delays?

Otherwise surely every airline that runs multiple short haul flights a day will use this as an excuse for the last flight of everyday being delayed, when it could be their poor operating has built up an accumulation of delays throughout the day.

Tyzap

ciderman1 wrote: »

Thanks - yes I totally agree and understand with the reasoning when it comes to pilot hours - however I'm wondering if, from a compensation view, it is something that is to a certain extend within airline's control, in that they should create rota's that have sufficient flexibility for delays?

Otherwise surely every airline that runs multiple short haul flights a day will use this as an excuse for the last flight of everyday being delayed, when it could be their poor operating has built up an accumulation of delays throughout the day.

Hi ciderman1,

Yes you are right.

The regulations do say that following and EC the airline should get things back on track asap. It part of the 'all reasonable measures' limb of the EC test.

Please read a previous post that explains the situation in more detail....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75840280&postcount=5

After a short delay of only 1.5hrs the airline should not be cancelling flights. It seems that your flight was cancelled for operational reasons.

Good luck.

ciderman1

Tyzap wrote: »

Hi ciderman1,

Yes you are right.

The regulations do say that following and EC the airline should get things back on track asap. It part of the 'all reasonable measures' limb of the EC test.

Please read a previous post that explains the situation in more detail....


After a short delay of only 1.5hrs the airline should not be cancelling flights. It seems that your flight was cancelled for operational reasons.

Good luck.

Thank you, that was my feeling and this link is very helpful for my reply to GermanWings. Much appreciated!