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Disregard for air passenger rights: Lufthansa complicates compensation recovery and ignores claims

Missachtung der Fluggastrechte: Lufthansa erschwert Rückerstattungen und ignoriert Ansprüche

After ECJ ruling: Lufthansa denies rights of 200,000 passengers

Nach EuGH-Urteil: Lufthansa verwehrt 200.000 Fluggästen ihre Rechte

<ul>
<li>Following a complaint by AirHelp, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that passengers affected by airline strikes have the right to financial compensation</li>
<li>In November 2019, nearly 200,000 Lufthansa passengers were affected by an announced staff strike</li>
<li>Lufthansa refuses to pay compensation to 4,500 affected passengers represented by AirHelp in court, despite court ruling</li>
</ul>
Berlin, 27 May 2021 – Following an announced week-long pilot strike by Scandinavian airline SAS in 2019, almost 370,000 passengers were unable to make their journeys. Europe’s largest legal tech company AirHelp (www.airhelp.com), which specialises in air passenger rights, then filed a complaint with the Swedish court in Attunda. The case went all the way to the European Court of Justice, which ruled on 23 March 2021 that announced airline strikes, as well as spontaneous ones, do not constitute exceptional circumstances. This decision is binding for all courts in the EU and therefore also applies to other airlines. Affected passengers are therefore entitled to compensation according to the Air Passenger Rights Regulation EC 261. Lufthansa, however, apparently sees things differently and still denies passengers from Germany their rightful payments after a strike.
Lufthansa ignores applicable law for 200,000 passengers 
The specific case involves an announced staff strike at Lufthansa in November 2019. Due to the events at the time, almost 200,000 passengers were unable to reach their destinations as planned. Now, the affected persons are not to be compensated despite the ECJ ruling. In the 4,500 passenger’s legal proceedings currently being conducted by AirHelp in this matter, Lufthansa refuses to follow the jurisdiction of the EU’s highest court. The reason given by the company is that it is waiting for an outstanding judgement by the Regional Court of Cologne, which has jurisdiction in this matter. 
However, the fact that Lufthansa not only waits but deliberately drags out the proceedings is shown by the fact that the company appeals in every court case in this matter. This was also the case most recently on 21 April 2021, one month after the ECJ’s ruling. Since the decision, however, the legal situation for this case has been clear and Lufthansa is thus obliged to pay out passengers entitled to compensation. The affected passengers are therefore entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros per person.
“Lufthansa’s stalling tactics are not only a highly unusual practice in court, but also underline the company’s unwillingness to compensate passengers for its own failings. However, due to the ECJ ruling we won, the factual situation is clear. The company must pay compensation to the people affected,” comments Christian Nielsen, Chief Legal Officer at AirHelp. 
Lufthansa does not see itself affected by the court ruling 
The company argues that its 2019 crew strike cannot be compared to the staff strike of SAS or other airlines. Lufthansa invokes that it did everything in its power to prevent this strike – the fact that the pilots went on strike anyway is therefore not owed to the company. However, the European Court of Justice made it clear in its decision that all staff strikes, without exception, cannot be considered as an “extraordinary circumstance”. Strikes must be scheduled by companies as a regular activity and are therefore to be considered manageable.
Already in 2018, passengers won another strike case before the European Court of Justice 
Three years ago, a similar strike case was already successful before the European Court of Justice. The subject of the complaint was a so-called “wildcat strike” – an unannounced, spontaneous staff strike. The ruling of the EU’s highest court at the time coincides with the most recent decision in March 2021: airlines must plan for strikes and compensate the passengers affected by them. The current ruling now clarifies that strikes organised and announced by a trade union, as in the case of Lufthansa, also entitle passengers to compensation.
“Through the two rulings of the European Court of Justice, it is clearly established that strikes cannot be considered extraordinary circumstances and therefore the airlines are responsible for them. For affected passengers, this means that you must receive compensation from the respective airlines in accordance with the Air Passenger Rights Regulation. This also applies to Lufthansa, which is not above the law. However, since the corporation still refuses to recognise this, we at AirHelp are consistently taking Lufthansa to court in this matter and suing for the rights of affected passengers,” adds Christian Nielsen. 
Passengers have these rights 
Flight cancellations and delays can entitle passengers to compensation payments of up to 600 euros per passenger. The amount of the compensation payment is calculated on the basis of the length of the flight route. The rightful compensation claim depends on the actual length of delay at the point of arrival as well as the reason for the cancelled or delayed flight. Affected passengers can enforce their compensation claim retroactively, up to three years after their flight date.
Exceptional circumstances such as severe weather or medical emergencies can have the effect of exempting the operating airline from the compensation obligation. Both announced and unannounced strikes are not included.

AirHelp wins landmark case at European Court of Justice:  passengers affected by airline strike entitled to compensation

Berlin, 23rd March 2021. A massive pilot strike at Scandinavian airline SAS left more than 370,000 passengers stranded at airports in 2019. Many of the affected passengers tried to file claims for compensation, and got turned down by the airline. In a groundbreaking decision, the European Court of Justice now confirms that all passengers affected by airline strikes deserve financial compensation – a decision that is binding for all courts across the EU.
A landmark win for travellers in Europe 
As SAS tried to escape compensating its passengers for its staff’s strike, the world’s leading expert on air passenger rights, AirHelp, filed a claim in the Swedish court of Attunda, close to SAS’ headquarters, urging for the case to be referred to the European Court of Justice to settle the matter once and for all. “The decision from the European Court of Justice sets the new standard on how strike cases are dealt with, as it is binding for all EU countries and airlines. The ruling clarifies a very important matter for all passengers that are affected by airline staff strikes in the future, but also for those who suffered from this in the past years. We see many airline staff strikes every year, affecting millions of passengers” says Christian Nielsen, AirHelp’s Chief Legal Officer, and continues: 
“This is a landmark case. Given the number of passengers with a potential claim for compensation, not only from the SAS strike but also from other past and future staff strikes, the ECJ decision will have a major impact all over Europe. We encourage all passengers that have suffered a flight delay or cancellation because of a strike in the past years to come to airhelp.com and verify for free whether they’re owed compensation following this ruling.”
Strong signal for consumer protection in Europe 
AirHelp has a very clear and concise interpretation of airline staff strikes as eligible for compensation. The global air passenger rights company leaned on a previous decision from the European Court of Justice. The decision, from a case against the airline TUI in <a href="https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2018-04/cp180049en.pdf">April 2018</a>, is legally binding for all EU member states. The ECJ ruling states clearly that a wildcat strike among aviation personnel should not be considered an extraordinary event, and airlines should, therefore, pay compensation. In AirHelp’s view and following this ECJ decision, it was clear that a planned strike could not be considered an extraordinary circumstance either. 
“It is important that we fight for our customers, now more than ever. A survey found that 9 in 10 passengers demand airlines to respect their rights more following the pandemic, so the ECJ’s decision comes at a much-needed time to strengthen consumer rights across Europe. In the case of airline staff going on strike, we have no doubt that financial compensation should be given to affected passengers. The decisions of the European Court of Justice are binding for all courts in the EU, and apply to everybody in the same way. This is proof of the positive impact AirHelp has on air passenger rights. We are here to help, and will bring our customers’ cases to the European Court of Justice if necessary” says Nielsen.
About the strike 
The SAS pilots’ strike lasted for over a week, resulting in just under 4,000 canceled and delayed flights between April 26 and May 3 2019. It affected more than 370,000 passengers. The passengers may be entitled to up to EUR 600 in compensation per person. 
Due to the airlines’ lack of interest in explaining their rights to their own passengers, a vast majority of European air travellers don’t understand their rights. It is therefore also important to note that the EU legislation entitles you to financial compensation, even if you have already received a refund for the ticket price for a cancelled flight. We encourage and advise affected passengers to check if their flight is eligible for compensation on airhelp.com
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About AirHelp:
AirHelp is the world’s largest organisation specialising in air passenger rights, helping travellers get compensation for delayed or cancelled flights and in instances of denied boarding. The company also takes legal and political action to support the growth and enforcement of air passenger rights worldwide. AirHelp has aided more than 16 million people, is available worldwide, and provides support in 16 languages.

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