Europe Flight Delay Compensation Reform Coming, And It’s Bad News

The European Union has the most consumer friendly policies in the world when it comes to what passengers are entitled to in the event that their flight is significantly delayed or canceled. This policy is known as EC261 (often referred to as EU261), and it entitles consumers to compensation in the range of €250-600 in the event of operational disruptions.

For over a decade now, since 2014, this policy has remained unchanged, which has been great for consumers. However, discussions are currently taking place to reform this policy. It seems inevitable that changes are coming, the question is just how drastic they’ll be.

EC261 reform closer to becoming a reality

For quite some time, there has been talk in the European Union about reforming EC261 policies. Recently, we’ve seen transport ministers of various member states meet in Luxembourg, to discuss reform. The changes we could see largely reflect the length of a delay that could trigger compensation, as well as how much compensation will be offered.

Under current policies:

• If your flight covers a distance of under 1,500km (930 miles), you’re entitled to €250 compensation if you’re delayed by at least two hours
• If your flight covers a distance of 1,500-3,500km (930-2,200 miles), you’re entitled to €400 compensation if you’re delayed by at least three hours
• If your flight covers a distance of over 3,500km (2,200 miles), you’re entitled to €600 compensation if you’re delayed by at least four hours

According to a proposal supported by a majority of transport ministers, the policy could be updated as follows:

• If your flight covers a distance of up to 3,500km, you’d be entitled to €300 compensation if you’re delayed by at least four hours
• If your flight covers a distance of over 3,500km, you’d be entitled to €500 compensation if you’re delayed by at least six hours

As you can see, we’re potentially looking at a significant increase in the length of a delay triggering compensation, plus in some cases, a reduction in the amount offered.

It’s worth noting that there’s not unanimous support for this concept, though. For example, Germany is advocating for similar timelines to the current policies, but wants to update the amounts. Specifically, Germany wants compensation to be a flat €300, which would mean compensation for long haul flights would be cut in half.

Some other changes have been floated as well. For example, currently a missed connection would lead to compensation, assuming you arrive at your final destination with a significant delay. This is often the easiest way to trigger EC261 compensation, given the very shorty minimum connection times at many airports, where even a minor delay could trigger a missed connection. Under one proposal, a missed connection would only trigger compensation if the first flight is delayed by at least 90 minutes.

It remains to be seen in what way the policy will be changed, exactly, though it does seem quite likely that we’ll see some changes. The only thing that would likely prevent any reform is various parties not agreeing on what needs to be changed. The European Parliament also has a say in this, and seems a bit more pro-consumer.

My take on the concept of EC261 reform

As a consumer, of course I love the European Union’s generous compensation scheme. It’s the only part of the world where I almost hope for a flight delay, since it pays big time. So of course I don’t like to see this reformed the worse.

On the other hand, some people would argue that in reality, us consumers are paying indirectly for this generous compensation. I think that’s sort of true, but also not. I mean, airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair manage to operate and offer very low fares, despite having to abide by these policies (which isn’t to say that they don’t try to deny compensation whenever possible, but…). My point is simply that it’s not like reducing compensation will lead to lower fares in any sort of a noticeable way.

Is some reform unreasonable? While I don’t like to see it, perhaps it’s not unreasonable either. I mean, if you’re on a long haul journey and misconnect with a planned 35-minute layover at an airport like Helsinki (HEL), should you automatically receive €600? As much as I don’t like to see these changes, I can understand the logic…

Bottom line

The European Union is considering making changes to the region’s compensation scheme for flight delays and cancelations, which is the most generous that you’ll find anywhere in the world. There are various proposals being considered, but they all increase the length of delay required to trigger compensation, and/or reduce the amount of compensation offered. So we’ll mark this as “developing” for now, and I’m sure we’ll learn more soon…

What do you make of this potential EC261 reform?