- In most cases, if a flight is cancelled, the airline can refund passengers’ tickets or offer an alternative connection with the final destination.
- Travellers may be entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600, unless the flight was cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances.
- The Court of Justice of the European Union has decided that compensation is also to be paid when the flight cancellation was due to the unexpected death of the co-pilot.
Case description
A flight from Stuttgart to Lisbon operated by a Portuguese airline was cancelled on the day of departure. The reason for the cancellation was the unexpected death of the co-pilot. Passengers’ tickets were rebooked from the morning to the afternoon of the same day. Many of them demanded compensation for the cancelled flight and inconvenience. The Portuguese airline refused to meet their claims. According to the airline, the unexpected death of the co-pilot was force majeure. This means that there was nothing the airline could have done in this situation and therefore no obligation to pay compensation.
The passengers disagreed and appliedto the Stuggart court to resolve the dispute. The German court asked the Court of Justice to clarify the concept
of “force majeure”and to determine whether the sudden death of the co-pilot is a force majeure situation.
Judgment Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union decided that the airline is responsible for organising replacement staff in the case of a pilot’s death and that this situation cannot be treated as force majeure. The Court also emphasised that a situation of unexpected death, however tragic, is no different from a legal point of view than a situation in which a flight cannot be operated due to the unexpected illness of a member of staff. It is the absence itself, and not its medical cause, that constitutes an event inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier’s business. The airline must therefore anticipate the possibility
of such unforeseen events and plan its crews and staff hours accordingly, taking into account the fact that the co-pilot has undergone the regular medical examination required by the regulations.
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