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Recently I was flying from BER (Berlin, Germany) via FRA (Frankfurt, Germany) to IAD (Washington, USA). The airplane, that was designated for flight BER-->FRA arrived late due to bad weather at its starting airport. Therefore, my flight from BER to FRA was delayed, I missed my connecting flight to IAD and arrived ways more than 3 hours at my destination. However, the weather at my departure airport BER was fine for departure as other planes started without any issues.

After claiming my compensation, the airlines unsurprisingly declined it, citing bad weather conditions. The questions here and here suggest, that I still might be entitled for compensation.

So my question is: am I entitled for compensation? Are there any legal documents or resources, that would back this up?

Update: According to newspaper sites, the decision in case Jager v easyJet 2013 suggest, that adverse weather is not grounds for rejection of a claim under EC Regulation 261/2004 unless the ‘flight in question’ was directly affected by the weather. Is there any legal document backing this claim up?

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    What kind of legal document are you hoping for? A copy of the full decision?
    – Relaxed
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 9:47
  • I was hoping for someting more reliable than a dailymail news article...
    – klwire
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 10:13
  • Using the name of the decision as a query, I find countless websites with more details but not the decision itself. I am still wondering what you mean by “legal document” and whether that's what you are looking for or not. I would recommend editing the question to clarify this.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 10:18

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The law itself is fairly ambiguous which leaves a lot of room for interpretation and the airlines are good at exploiting every potential loophole. That means that all the contentious details are up to the courts to sort out on a one-case-at-a-time basis. The legal documents backing this up are court decisions.

Here is a list court cases for some of the major disputes: https://flightdelaypay.com/leading-cases/

Your specific case is covered in Case 14. It lists the judge and the court where the ruling was issued. Each court will keep records, but it will vary from court to court how you can get your hands on them and you probably will need to contact them directly.

Is there any legal document backing this claim up?

Yes. The legal document is the court ruling by Deputy District Judge Benson made in the County Court of Macclesfield on 16th September 2013.

But if you have the legal document: then what? The airline will quiet likely still refuse to pay. Your options are typically

  1. Be persistent, keep calling and threaten legal action or complaints
  2. File a complain with the applicable national organization
  3. Initiate legal action yourself
  4. Farm it out to a 3rd party EU261 collector (for a hefty cut of the proceeds)
  5. Give up
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  • Thanks a lot! Case 20 might also be relevant here.
    – klwire
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 13:55

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