Flight cancellations are no longer a mere travel inconvenience, but a legal reality in which passenger rights intersect with the obligations of the air carrier. At a time of exponential growth in air traffic, the operational instability of airlines raises legitimate questions about the legal compensation due to affected passengers.
Thus, Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament, the essential legislative act on compensation, establishes passengers’ right to compensation in the event of cancellation, delay of more than 3 hours, or denied boarding. However, the application of the aforementioned provisions is often marked by ambiguities and contradictory interpretations.
In these circumstances, the fundamental question that arises is: to what extent is the passenger’s right to compensation effective, and not purely theoretical?
In the practice of law firm Costaș, Negru și Asociații regarding the granting of compensation for canceled/delayed flights, we often encounter situations in which the airline refuses to pay. Furthermore, in the case to be presented, the question arose as to whether or not to award legal costs in a case where one of the plaintiffs is a lawyer.
For example, in a final ruling handed down by the Timiș County Court, the team of lawyers at Costaș, Negru și Asociații managed to obtain a favorable solution and compel the air carrier to pay compensation in the amount of €400 per passenger, as well as court costs, even though one of the plaintiffs was a lawyer.
Specifically, the court of appeal held that in the case of a flight consisting of two or more segments, compensation is awarded based on the total distance, not on the distance of the first segment, as the court of first instance had erroneously held.
Therefore, for a flight assimilated to a canceled flight on the Stockholm – Munich, Munich – Timișoara route, Timiș County Court concluded that compensation of €400 per passenger should be awarded, taking into account the total distance. Previously, the Timișoara Court ruled that compensation of €250 per passenger should be awarded, based solely on the distance of the Stockholm – Munich flight.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled on the classification of a flight with a delay of more than three hours as a canceled flight. Therefore, in a preliminary ruling procedure (Joined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07), the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that when passengers arrive at their final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival time, they may claim lump-sum compensation from the airline, unless the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances.
Furthermore, in its case law the European Court has ruled that the article referring to exceptional circumstances must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem affecting an aircraft, which causes a flight to be canceled, does not fall within the scope of the concept of “exceptional circumstances” within the meaning of that provision.
Similarly, according to the list issued by the National Enforcement Bodies (NEB) at their meeting on April 12, 2013, a technical malfunction does not constitute an extraordinary circumstance. Flight delays are included in this list, under the category of circumstances that cannot be considered extraordinary.
Furthermore, the Regulation stipulates that passengers must be offered free meals and refreshments in proportion to the waiting time, as well as the possibility to make two free phone calls and send messages.
An important point to note is that passenger rights are not limited exclusively to the specific provisions of the Regulation, but may be interpreted and extended by national courts depending on the circumstances. Therefore, in certain cases, national courts have ruled that passengers may claim additional compensation in the event of flight cancellations for the additional expenses they have incurred.
A controversial aspect of the case in question was the awarding of legal fees, given that one of the plaintiffs was a lawyer. Specifically, the court of first instance rejected the award of fees on the grounds that one of the plaintiffs was a lawyer. The court of appeal overturned this decision and awarded the legal costs as requested.
With regard to these aspects, we pointed out in the appeal that the fact that the plaintiff in the main proceedings is also a lawyer is irrelevant, since this does not automatically lead to the removal of court costs, given that it has been proven that these have been paid.
Furthermore, we argued that the fee collected by the associate lawyer in a professional civil society is shared with the other associates, as it is an amount collected for the practice of the profession. In short, the fee in question is not retained by the claimant, despite the considerations of the court of first instance.
Thus, since there are supporting documents to this effect, there is no doubt that we are talking about an actual expense. However, as provided by law, the actual legal costs are borne by the losing party.
Furthermore, the law governing the legal profession does not prohibit the provision of legal assistance to certain categories of individuals, nor does it prohibit the dual role of claimant and party. We therefore consider that the lawyer’s fee should be awarded as requested, as it cannot be argued that it is unjustified.
The Timiș Court validated the above arguments and ordered the defendant to pay the court costs.
In conclusion, in the case of a canceled flight or a flight assimilated to a canceled flight with a stopover, the amount of compensation is calculated in relation to the entire distance, not just the first segment. Furthermore, in such cases, legal costs are awarded regardless of whether one of the claimants is a lawyer.
This article was prepared for the blog of the law firm Costaș, Negru & Asociații by atty. Loredana Feier, from the Cluj Bar Association.
Costaș, Negru & Asociații is a law firm with offices in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest and Arad, which provides assistance, legal representation and advice in several practice areas through a team of 18 lawyers and consultants. Details of the legal services and the composition of the team can be found at https://www.costas-negru.ro.
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