Trouble getting compensation

Jayneplum

We travelled from Manchester to Cleveland in June via JFK but our connecting flight was cancelled and the first available flight was in 3 days time. Our luggage however managed to arrive in Cleveland on time which meant we were stranded in New York for 3 days without luggage. We asked Delta for help with accommodation, food, transport costs etc which they specify on their website if any delays occur, but they refused saying we were not entitled to any help at all as they flight had been cancelled.  On our return I put in a complaint to Delta including receipts for our accommodation that we had to find ourselves, I listed the cost of food, transport to and from the airport daily as we didn’t know at this point our luggage was in Cleveland and baggage reclaim told us that our luggage would be returned to us, which it obviously wasn’t but this resulted in us spending hours in the airport waiting for it to come off the conveyer belt.

On our return I wrote a letter of complaint to airlines including receipts for our accommodation and listing all the money spent on food, taxis to and from airport and also explaining we had lost three days rental at the cost of 100 dollars per day for the holiday home we were staying at. After months of emails from Delta who sent us on a wild goose chase by telling us it wasn’t them, we needed to speak to and asking me to contact various businesses we finally received an email from Air France stating because Delta is a non EU/EEA based airline this regulation does not apply when departing for an airport located in the  EU/EEA and because the flight departed from New York (non EU) the right to compensation does not exist. How can this be right????  Any idea on how I can proceed.?

eskbanker

Was the booking handled as a single through ticket or two separate ones?

Alan_Bowen

I cannot understand why there wasn't a flight to Cleveland for three days, a quick check on Expedia (not a recommendation!) shows at least 17 a day including 5 by Delta. Was Cleveland airport closed for some reason in which case there is no claim as that would be outside the airline's control? If not then there are now 2 major cases involving US airlines flying domestic routes as part of a single booking from an EU airport which says they are liable under EU261.

You can quote flightright GmbH v American Airlines, Inc (Case C-436/21) decided on October 6th 2022 by the European Court of Justice. Passengers were booked on a single ticket from Stuttgart to Zurich, then to Philadephia and finally to Kansas City. The last flight, the internal US flight,  was delayed by American Airlines which refused to pay EU261 compensation, the court held that the law applied to connecting flights even if there was no relationship between the airlines on the booking. Your case is even stronger if all the flights were with Delta. A case earlier this year involved United Airlines Q, R and S v United Airlines (case C-561-20) that came from flights booked from Brussels via New York to San Jose. Again it was the last internal flight that was delayed by 223 minutes, United refused to pay, and the court found in favour of the passengers. 

Best of luck!

Jayneplum

It was handled by an agent who sent us an email containing an E ticket so not sure if that passes as one ticket or two.