In recent years, aviation has increasingly faced canceled or delayed flights, which has led to a decline in passenger confidence in the industry.
Flight delays are more than an inconvenience. They can ruin travel plans while disrupting passengers' daily lives. However, if you plan to travel by air regularly, you are likely to experience some delays.
Flight delays and cancellations can occur with all airlines, but obviously those with a busy operational schedule are the most affected. From 2020 until now, every summer we read about the thousands of flights affected by delays or cancellations. It is true that passengers affected by flight cancellations or delays can receive financial compensation, but sometimes it is not enough.
The rights of air passengers
If you fly on EU territory or from the EU to other non-EU destinations (regardless of whether the flight is operated by a company inside or outside the EU), you are also entitled to financial compensation of up to €600. These compensations are set according to the distance:
- 250 Euro for distance flights below 1500 km - regional and domestic flights
- 400 euros for flights between 1500-3500 km
- 600 euros for flights over distances over 3500 km (with a minimum delay of 4 hours)
- 300 euros for flights over distances over 3500 km (delayed between 3 and 4 hours)
These rights have been established by the EU faci fac part din the rights of air traffic passengers (To read). So we are not talking here about territorial laws or laws made by airlines, but about European Union directives.
rin EU in this context we refer to the 28 member states (including Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin (French Antilles), Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands), but also to Iceland, Norway and Switzerland . We also do not mean the Faroe Islands, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
These laws also apply to flights from / to Romania, whether we speak of liner or charter flights. Over the years, passengers of Wizz Air, TAROM, Lufthansa, Air France, etc. have faced delayed or canceled flights. It is not a rule that these flights are only at low-cost or only with full-service companies. If you too have faced canceled flights, for example at TAROM, you can do it TAROM complaints.
The main causes
But how many of you have asked yourself what causes flights to be delayed or cancelled? Some of these are independent of the airlines, others are closely related to them.
Storms, fog, high winds and other extreme weather conditions
Weather plays an important role in aviation. Storms, fog, high winds and other extreme weather conditions can cause both flight delays and complete flight cancellations. Low visibility during flight can make navigation difficult and strong winds can affect the stability of the aircraft. Thunderstorms can also cause dangerous turbulence. For flights canceled or delayed due to severe weather, passengers are not eligible for financial compensation, but are entitled to assistance.
Technical issues
Any technical failure, whether related to the aircraft's engine, navigation or communication systems, can be a reason for delay or cancellation. There are unpredictable situations that can lead to the cancellation of the flight at the last minute or the delay of the flight without a fixed time.
In such situations, passengers are entitled to assistance from the airline, rerouting or rescheduling on another flight, but they are also entitled to financial compensation. It depends from one case to another.
Employee strikes
In recent years, most flights have been delayed or canceled due to employee strikes. There are two situations here. Flights affected by the ground staff strike, who are not airline employees, are not eligible for compensation. But flights affected by the airline strike are eligible for financial compensation.
Once the operational schedule is disrupted due to various causes, flights end up experiencing chain delays. An airplane has several scheduled flights per day. If there are delays on one of the segments, automatically the others will also be delayed because everything propagates from one flight to another.
Have you experienced canceled or delayed flights?