In a separate post, I shared how I recently missed an American Airlines connection while flying from London to Miami via Chicago. The silver lining here is that UK261 regulations apply, which entitle me to £520 cash compensation. It’s pretty clear cut, but that’s not to say that airlines won’t try to get out of it.
In this post:
American doesn’t tell the truth about flight delay reason
Just to recap, I recently missed a connection due to a late inbound aircraft, resulting from a maintenance issue with the aircraft on a previous flight. If you pull up American’s own notes about the flight on ExpertFlyer, you’ll see the following reason for the delay:
“LATE ARRV A/C DUE TO PRIOR MAINTENANCE DELAYS”
That’s really straightforward, and not open to interpretation. The flight was delayed by roughly an hour on departure due to maintenance issues with the aircraft, which caused the plane to arrive late. On departure, the plane was then slightly delayed due to air traffic control, but that was because we missed our takeoff slot due to the late arriving aircraft resulting from the maintenance issue. If the flight had operated on schedule, we would’ve had our takeoff slot.
This is simply not open to interpretation, this is 100% how the regulations work. So following my flight, I submitted the following comment with customer relations:
Due to a maintenance delay on AA91 from LHR to ORD, I missed my connection from ORD to MIA, resulting in a forced overnight. This means I got to my destination roughly 10 hours late. In line with UK261 regulations, I respectfully request the 520 GBP cash compensation mandated by authorities, based on the delay in reaching my final destination, due to a delay within American’s control.
Six days later, I received a response from American, as follows:
Providing dependable service is what’s expected of us, and when we don’t operate flights on schedule, it’s easy to understand our customers’ disappointment. Please accept my sincere apology for the disruptions encountered on your recent trip from London – Heathrow.
We have reviewed the applicable regulations, and you do not qualify for the regulated compensation because the flight was delayed due to Air Traffic Control issues. Our records indicate that American Airlines flight AA91, scheduled to operate on July 28, 2025 from London – Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare, was delayed for 81 minutes due to Air Traffic Control ground stops/holds.
Air traffic disruptions can be the result of weather conditions, congestion at the destination or origin city, weather along the flight path, or ground stops/holds.
When situations like this occur, Air Traffic Control will decrease the number of take-offs and landings which impact the number of flights that can operate. It may appear that other flights were unaffected, this is because a portion of flights may have been delayed or canceled to free up space and minimize traffic.
While I understand you were made aware of some maintenance items being taken care of during your delay, we will often take the opportunity to handle minor issues during that time since we’re already awaiting clearance. Although other factors may negatively contribute to inconveniences during a Air Traffic Control ground stops/holds, we consider what set the off-schedule event in motion and advise our customers accordingly. I am sorry to hear your plans were impacted and you arrived to Miami International Airport later than planned.
ASKJHDASLKFJLKFHJDLS. I’m sorry, what?!
So the aircraft was delayed by 81 minutes due to air traffic control delays, and then during that air traffic control delay, the airline might have worked on some maintenance issues? None of that is true:
- The inbound aircraft arrived over an hour late
- We had no maintenance issues on our flight
- We had a slight air traffic control delay because we were late
So I responded to the email as follows:
Thank you for your response, I appreciate it. I would kindly ask you to take another look at your records. The aircraft operating this flight, N842AA, operated AA98 to London, and arrived over an hour behind schedule. This was due to prior maintenance issues with the aircraft. For example, please see the flight notes for this flight, which I’ve also attached:
“LATE ARRV A/C DUE TO PRIOR MAINTENANCE DELAYS”
The only minor air traffic control delay that happened is due to missing our slot as a result of the maintenance delay, which is covered under UK261 regulations, since maintenance issues were the initial cause of the delay. Are you suggesting that this is not accurate, and that there were not previous maintenance delays? I would like to point out that the entire sequence of flights for that aircraft were delayed by hours the day prior — AA2012, AA2321, and AA98 — the aircraft was trying to make up time with each turn.
I’d respectfully ask you to reconsider your decision, in light of the facts.
Just hours later, I heard back from the same person at American, who responded as follows:
Thank you for writing back. I’m sorry to learn that you’re still upset with us. That’s certainly not how we want our customers to feel.
We have thoroughly reviewed the circumstances surrounding flight AA91 from London – Heathrow on July 28, 2025 and have confirmed the reason for the delay was due to Air Traffic Control.
Flight delays are complex and can affect airline operations in a variety of ways. We can assure you that we would never mislead our customers about the reason for a flight delay, cancellation or diversion. We consider what set the off schedule event in motion and advise our customers accordingly.
While I regret any further disappointment this may cause, compensation under Air Passenger Rights Regulations / The Aviation Air Services Law is not due when a delay is out of our control.
As you can see, he doubled down on the initial claim. He has “thoroughly reviewed” the initial situation,” and he can assure me that the airline “would never mislead” customers.
This response of course in no way addresses the points that I made, which is mighty convenient. Suffice it to say that this isn’t over…
How sad that companies instruct employees to be dishonest
I get it, no airline wants to pay cash compensation to passengers, especially since UK261 and EC261 regulations are quite generous toward consumers in that regard. At the same time, the law is the law, and if the airline wants to fly to a certain destination, it should also abide by the laws of that destination.
American has a specialized customer relations team that handles requests for government mandated compensation, and those people do this all the day, so they know the actual regulations like the back of their hand. It’s also one of the reasons that it takes time to receive a response, unlike American’s automated customer relations, with nearly instant responses.
But goodness, I find it really distasteful to outright lie to customers in this way. That screenshot I shared of the flight notes above isn’t something that I just made up, but instead, those are American’s own notes about what happened on the flight.
The delay was caused by a late arriving aircraft due to a maintenance issue. Period. If there’s a small additional delay due to losing your slot because of the delay, that doesn’t suddenly become the core reason for the delay, and trigger a “force majeure” excuse.
This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen American do something like this. In mid-2023, I wrote about how Ford had a delayed flight, and the airline also lied about the reason, to get out of paying government mandated compensation.
It seems obvious to me that frontline employees are being instructed to lie to customers. When something is as black and white as this, I find that to be particularly reprehensible.
In fairness, American is hardly alone in this regard. It often takes a bit of back and forth before an airline agrees to pay a compensation claim, as they do what they can to wear you down. This is why there’s a whole industry of companies that help with these claims, and take a cut once the compensation is actually paid out.
For me this is a matter of principle. I’m not going to be gaslit, and I’ll file a complaint with regulators in both the US and UK if I have to. The reason I didn’t write about my delay until now is because I wanted to see how American would respond, without me drawing attention to this.
For all the claims people have of bloggers getting special treatment, I think this trip is the prime example of how that’s not typically the case. On this trip I was downgraded, suspended, misconnected, and lied to. So the next time you think we get anything special, well… there you go.
Bottom line
My American Airlines flight was delayed due to a late inbound aircraft, resulting from a maintenance issue on a prior flight. This caused me to miss my connection, entitling me to UK261 compensation, in line with regulations. I don’t make the rules, but this is exactly the kind of situation for which these regulations are created.
When I contacted American, though, the airline informed me that the entirety of the delay was due to air traffic control issues, and maybe the airline performed some maintenance during the air traffic control delay… which is just malarkey, plain and simple. And this is’t some honest mistake — the airline knows this, and it’s reflect in the carrier’s own notes.
Even when I pointed this out, American simply doubled down, while ignoring the facts that I presented…
Has anyone else experienced similar outright lies from American about the reason for delays?
The information you reviewed
might be in correct. I work for American and I see this constantly. The operations personnel will pre-code the flight with a controllable delay as a default when the fight experiences an issue. Then later they will go back and code it correctly after the fact. It’s very confusing to us as well because we are the ones trying to give out correct information.
Similar experience with delayed compensation, but with Wizz Air not AA: surprisingly, my claim was approved by Wizz in 2 days, but getting $ into my bank account was a nightmare! My wife's was paid in about 3 months (after dozens of emails, messages to Wizz FB page, etc). Mine was further delayed until February--6 months!
It’s hilarious when people argue with a bot. And you’re mad that you didn’t hear what you didn’t want to hear. Stop playing victim and go fly with someone else instead of putting something online that says “They’re wrong and I’m a victim”. Like shut up no one feels bad for you crybaby.
Ben: two questions come to mind...
-the delay due to mechanical issues doesn't have to be on your SPECIFIC/SCHEDULED flight? It can be on the one prior (like yours was)? Just curious if the rules, as written and interpreted, mean/imply that the issue had to happen with the actual flight you are on.
-is there any 'out' that an airline can deny the comp. b/c a missed connection had too short of a...
Ben: two questions come to mind...
-the delay due to mechanical issues doesn't have to be on your SPECIFIC/SCHEDULED flight? It can be on the one prior (like yours was)? Just curious if the rules, as written and interpreted, mean/imply that the issue had to happen with the actual flight you are on.
-is there any 'out' that an airline can deny the comp. b/c a missed connection had too short of a transit/connection time? Obviously, they sold you the ticket, but can they say you need/must have a minimum of X minutes between flights, especially when transiting between an international and domestic terminal? Curious if that can be a legit reason as well not to pay out.
Have had similar experiences with AA. Fortunately our delays weren't as long.
We actually heard the truth about a DFW flight from a couple of ground crew members. That really burns!
AA has lied to us enough times that we've decided that we will no longer fly with them.
I had a similar, but different experience. We were scheduled for a flight to Portland Maine from DCA Washington (a 1hr and 45 min flight). We were on board the plane when the captain announced that he had to have maintenance look at an electrical problem. He also said he couldn't ignore it as it had been a problem in the past in this plane as evidenced by the computer log. We deplaned and waited...
I had a similar, but different experience. We were scheduled for a flight to Portland Maine from DCA Washington (a 1hr and 45 min flight). We were on board the plane when the captain announced that he had to have maintenance look at an electrical problem. He also said he couldn't ignore it as it had been a problem in the past in this plane as evidenced by the computer log. We deplaned and waited for another plane. They found one and by the time we were ready to take off, a storm came thru . We stayed in plane till storm in DC passed. Unfortunately, by the time the storm passed in DC it also closed down most of east coast. We waited, but then the flight crew timed out and we had to deplane and wait for a crew. We waited, and finally 8 hours after we were supposed to go, the flight was cancelled, and the next available flight was not till the following day and was a connection which took 5 hours. We were to go sailing for the weekend, and we would not make it there in time to sail! We got the total runaround. They offered me 5000 miles.
I appealed, they essentially said forget it. Even the pilot told us several times "this was caused by a mechanical problem with the first plane"
Anyone know to whom I should appeal? I already appealed to American and they just repeated the same gibberish.
In 2023 I was in Charlotte flying to Miami. At the counter they told me that the flight was delayed due to weather reasons in Miami. I called my son and I put the phone live with a video in front of two employees, showing it was a perfect sunny day. They look at each other, remain in silent for a couple of minutes, they called somebody and ask me to move because they were other people in line. Basically a bunch of liars.
Wow, that AA response was about the same, word for word, on a response I received from Lufthansa. When my flight was delayed the flight crew actually announced over the speaker system that the delay was due to an aircraft certification issue. A one hour delay turned into a change of aircraft and a + 4 hour departure and arrival.
I did a EU application which doesn’t get me compensation but will prosecute and...
Wow, that AA response was about the same, word for word, on a response I received from Lufthansa. When my flight was delayed the flight crew actually announced over the speaker system that the delay was due to an aircraft certification issue. A one hour delay turned into a change of aircraft and a + 4 hour departure and arrival.
I did a EU application which doesn’t get me compensation but will prosecute and fine the airline for a violation. I also hired the same firm the EU webpage recommended using to prosecute Lufthansa should they be found in violation. Yes, I have to pay a fee, but for me it’s not about the money but really about holding the airline responsible for violating the rules.
I believe many airlines use AI to answer complaints from their customer, and the system is set up to deny all customer inquiries with silly responses.
I had a flight delay issue with BA, missing my connection, resulting in a 12 hour delay to get home, but only receiving silly responses from AI.
It shows total disrespect for their customers. I hope that we will soon see regulations to outlaw this behavior.
WestJet one of the only major carriers in Canada lies to its customers constantly. We don't have good laws in Canada and they never ever agree to pay. They've got a canned response they send to everybody in hopes that people will go away and I'll bet that 90% of the people do. I've just gotten so tired of them I simply have stopped flying them because they truly are the worst airline in the...
WestJet one of the only major carriers in Canada lies to its customers constantly. We don't have good laws in Canada and they never ever agree to pay. They've got a canned response they send to everybody in hopes that people will go away and I'll bet that 90% of the people do. I've just gotten so tired of them I simply have stopped flying them because they truly are the worst airline in the world for accountability and honesty to passengers. So I vote with my dollar and I would suggest anyone traveling in Canada do the same. Don't allow WestJet to lie. Take them to small claims court even if it means investing time and money and write the minister of transport and demand better protection for consumers. Until that happens Westjet will send out lies and canned responses to everyone.
My father was an air traffic control supervisor with the FAA for 30 years. He told me that 75 to 80% of the reasons that the airlines gave to passengers for canceling/delaying flights were inaccurate.
American airlines has made it clear that the customer is always wrong. I had called customer service and they referred me to go online and submit the complaint to customer relations. You submit the complaint to customer relations and within minutes if you have a response. Generally if I apologize for any inconvenience they understand are inconvenience but there is nothing they can do. I submitted the same complaint at three different times once being...
American airlines has made it clear that the customer is always wrong. I had called customer service and they referred me to go online and submit the complaint to customer relations. You submit the complaint to customer relations and within minutes if you have a response. Generally if I apologize for any inconvenience they understand are inconvenience but there is nothing they can do. I submitted the same complaint at three different times once being 2:00 a.m. all three complaints had the exact same response word for word and the same person's name regardless of the time of day. They did not specifically address any of my concerns.
The email response even tells you not to reply to the email because it will not be answered unless the original complaint is already contained in that email which they never are.
Unless you’re privy to all communications from air traffic control you can’t be sure why the aircraft couldn’t make up some of what ended to br the delay. Short connection time late in the day should always be avoided
I’ve been told by a flight attendant that the delay was thunderstorms when it isn’t even cloudy and two or three men in yellow vests are standing right there in front of us telling the pilot they got the wrong part and it would be 30 minutes before the right one came from the warehouse. 90 minutes later the part got replaced and we immediately left but I was going to be stuck overnight at...
I’ve been told by a flight attendant that the delay was thunderstorms when it isn’t even cloudy and two or three men in yellow vests are standing right there in front of us telling the pilot they got the wrong part and it would be 30 minutes before the right one came from the warehouse. 90 minutes later the part got replaced and we immediately left but I was going to be stuck overnight at O’Hare. When we got there they denied a voucher because it was “weather.” Common practice on AA and you have absolutely zero recourse.
I imagine that because you're a blogger and have an interest in writing about this, you'll want to keep putting in the time to fight this yourself, which is understandable.
But for the rest of us, when are time is valuable and we may not be interested in putting hours of frustration into fighting with the airline, I've had very good experiences with AirHelp, a company which essentially fights the battle for you and (at...
I imagine that because you're a blogger and have an interest in writing about this, you'll want to keep putting in the time to fight this yourself, which is understandable.
But for the rest of us, when are time is valuable and we may not be interested in putting hours of frustration into fighting with the airline, I've had very good experiences with AirHelp, a company which essentially fights the battle for you and (at least in my experience) always wins when you are actually in the right and qualify for compensation. The downside, of course, is that they take a cut of the compensation, but that's entirely fair.
I have no connection to AirHelp, other than as a satisfied client who has been compensated for significant delays through their efforts on my behalf. Their website is really easy to use and they have a very efficient process.
I had an issue with AA employees mislead me and then not taking responsibility, lack of desire to help "AT ALL" about 10 years ago, I gave them chances to resolve it but getting no where. I then emailed the CEO directly and he had his executive team contacted me, they resolved the issue but after I made the person who handled the case feel the pain with all the leg works he has to...
I had an issue with AA employees mislead me and then not taking responsibility, lack of desire to help "AT ALL" about 10 years ago, I gave them chances to resolve it but getting no where. I then emailed the CEO directly and he had his executive team contacted me, they resolved the issue but after I made the person who handled the case feel the pain with all the leg works he has to do as my customer right, sure after he would go back and discipline all those employees who didn't do their job.
The airfairness team and I would love to help you out here 100% on us. Want a hand punching the airline in the nads?
Not that hard to find the emails of the CEO, the Head of Corporate Communications, and their new chief customer experience officer and write them a professional but direct note about this. If you can find their Chief counsel's email, send it to him.or her too (the top lawyer).
Subtly hint that you will take this to social media and the air governing body in the UK and the FAA/DOT and BBB.
If its a...
Not that hard to find the emails of the CEO, the Head of Corporate Communications, and their new chief customer experience officer and write them a professional but direct note about this. If you can find their Chief counsel's email, send it to him.or her too (the top lawyer).
Subtly hint that you will take this to social media and the air governing body in the UK and the FAA/DOT and BBB.
If its a professional, well-written note and your beef is legitimate, someone will respond.
Bypass all the customer service riff-raff and bs and go right to the top.
I was recently on AA flight 1879, on Sat Aug 2nd that suffered an overnight delay, to Sun Aug 3rd.
We were issued hotel vouchers, for the courtyard marriot in Gastonia, NC. This hotel has no vacant rooms, they only had 3 for many persons. Upon enquiry, the hotel mentioned that they specifically advise AA since early in the day that they only have 3 vacant rooms. Which American total missed.
We made...
I was recently on AA flight 1879, on Sat Aug 2nd that suffered an overnight delay, to Sun Aug 3rd.
We were issued hotel vouchers, for the courtyard marriot in Gastonia, NC. This hotel has no vacant rooms, they only had 3 for many persons. Upon enquiry, the hotel mentioned that they specifically advise AA since early in the day that they only have 3 vacant rooms. Which American total missed.
We made our way back to CLT airport and had to sleep on a cold dirty airport carpet.
How worse can AA get?
As a retired legacy US then AA employee this doesn't surprise me in the least. I can first hand tell you that their management team doesn't care about customer service in the least bit. The front line employees are treated like crap with some two minute manager standing over them know absolutely nothing about an airline operation. Good luck getting anything out of them!. One more thing I could fly free on them being retired...
As a retired legacy US then AA employee this doesn't surprise me in the least. I can first hand tell you that their management team doesn't care about customer service in the least bit. The front line employees are treated like crap with some two minute manager standing over them know absolutely nothing about an airline operation. Good luck getting anything out of them!. One more thing I could fly free on them being retired but I by tickets and fly on Delta because I want to get there being treated like a human being!
Please keep working on this. Maybe even get a class action lawsuit going , as you say, they are not telling the truth and need to be held accountable. If the defense states it is a bot mess up, they programmed it that way.
Getting a lawsuit will bring this more to light and get all the other passengers involved.
Just make sure the lawyer fees are paid by the airlines and not the punitive damages
Write a DOT complaint and a Better Business Bureau complaint. They will answer and pay. They do this so all the other 200 passengers dont get paid.
I think this comes down to the legal definition and standard of proof of "cause/causation" as used in this law.
AA's argument could be interpreted as not denying that the plane arrived/departed late due to maintenance, but instead, given the fact that you only missed your connection by a matter of minutes, that it was the ATC delay in LHR which was the "but for" cause for missing the connection. The argument is, "yes we...
I think this comes down to the legal definition and standard of proof of "cause/causation" as used in this law.
AA's argument could be interpreted as not denying that the plane arrived/departed late due to maintenance, but instead, given the fact that you only missed your connection by a matter of minutes, that it was the ATC delay in LHR which was the "but for" cause for missing the connection. The argument is, "yes we were late from the outset due to MX, however you still would have made your connection but for the LHR ATC delay." The natural retort is that there would have been no ATC delay, or even if there was one, it wouldn't have mattered had AA not been already delayed due to MX issues.
So it may come down to whether "but for causation" or "proximate causation" is the controlling doctrine.
Of course, it's just as likely that AA is not looking at it this deeply and is simply stonewalling as you say.
Being a former, now retired Flight Attendant, there were defintely a few times explaining to passengers on out-station flights, when the inbound flight was delayed due to a mechanical and if they missed their connection, they should be offered hotel and meal vouchers, knowing agents do not necessarily look at the previous segments that really caused the delrlieray.and they should.
But 2 things might be working against you.
1/ your inbound aircraft mechanical...
Being a former, now retired Flight Attendant, there were defintely a few times explaining to passengers on out-station flights, when the inbound flight was delayed due to a mechanical and if they missed their connection, they should be offered hotel and meal vouchers, knowing agents do not necessarily look at the previous segments that really caused the delrlieray.and they should.
But 2 things might be working against you.
1/ your inbound aircraft mechanical delay was a different flight number
2/ and because your outbound flight latest reason of the delay was ATC , that delay coding overtakes any previous reasons.
On a flight from DFW to BRO several years ago, I had a flight canceled and it was the last flight to Brownsville for the night. At the gate, I heard on the walkie talkie that some of thr crew was running late and would not make the flight, either due to a late inbound flight or some other reason. When the announcement came about the cancelation, they informed us it was due to weather...
On a flight from DFW to BRO several years ago, I had a flight canceled and it was the last flight to Brownsville for the night. At the gate, I heard on the walkie talkie that some of thr crew was running late and would not make the flight, either due to a late inbound flight or some other reason. When the announcement came about the cancelation, they informed us it was due to weather in Brownsville. My mother in law was home in Brownsville and we asked her what the weather was like. Normal. Hot, humid, passing clouds. So we were lied to about the cancelation meaning they did not provide any accommodations for us. What they did offer was a $50 voucher for a hotel in Dallas, 20 miles away, and the hotel was $300 per night. We had to arrange and pay for our own transportation at a hotel by the airport which still ran us about $200. I called out the gate agent of what I heard over the walkie talkie and she told me it was for a different flight. BS on that one. Way to go American Airlines.
Ben it is not just airlines. We have two hotel problems in which we have have been manhandled by upper management.
That includes Chris Nasetta at Hilton and those in Chicago at Hyatt are shy to deal with a problem of their Hyatt European management.
It is unbelievable (shocked us actually) and very sad as you say. We have received responses just as you have from hotel companies.
What can we say, other than...
Ben it is not just airlines. We have two hotel problems in which we have have been manhandled by upper management.
That includes Chris Nasetta at Hilton and those in Chicago at Hyatt are shy to deal with a problem of their Hyatt European management.
It is unbelievable (shocked us actually) and very sad as you say. We have received responses just as you have from hotel companies.
What can we say, other than execs are only interested in new property openings, gunning for expansion, while forgetting who got them there, who pays their bills.
The same as you, the story is not over with them.
I've got the same about a few years ago with Wizzair , you can not imagine the lies a company it's willing to say just to not pay. I'm wondering how the people who are working at the costumer service can look in the mirror in the morning knowing they gonna get to their work where they gonna lie to the costumers all day long . I've got my compensation after about 3 years but it was trough a company which I've had to pay 30% .
Air Canada scre@@d my husband and I on a flight to Curacao and also doubled down and refused any compensation. On a flight out of DC, a thunderstorm had disrupted SOME departures. We were supposed to leave at 5:00 pm for Toronto. We had planned to overnight and catch a 9 am flight to Curacao. AC kept pushing our flight back (two other AC flights scheduled after ours still left, but were completely full) until...
Air Canada scre@@d my husband and I on a flight to Curacao and also doubled down and refused any compensation. On a flight out of DC, a thunderstorm had disrupted SOME departures. We were supposed to leave at 5:00 pm for Toronto. We had planned to overnight and catch a 9 am flight to Curacao. AC kept pushing our flight back (two other AC flights scheduled after ours still left, but were completely full) until 11:00pm. They boarded half our flight and then determined we couldn't land due to nighttime runway repairs in Toronto. AC could not get us on the early morning flight to Toronto the next morning (meaning we still could have likely made the flight to Curacao). They don't have service every day to Curacao so we were rebooked from the Saturday morning flight to Curacao to one on Tuesday, losing three days of our vacation. We still opted to overnight in Toronto rather than have the tight morning connection. We lost one night of hotel in Toronto, had to pay for the new night and lost three days of our vacation. When I tried to claim compensation, I was told that the new flights to Toronto and Curacao both left as scheduled, so we were not entitled to compensation. WHAAAT??!! AC doubled down and finally only offered us a $50 voucher. We are United Platinum and stay loyal to Star Alliance for the most part. We will NEVER fly Air Canada again after this experience.
This happened to me with BA and I had to take them to arbitration. It was actually a fairly simple process. All online. I settled for the required amount but accepted flight vouchers rather than cash, so I suppose BA “won” in their mind through their duplicity.
Definitely pursue with regulators and let us know how it goes. Being lied to is unacceptable, being gaslit like that is even worse.
The easiest thing to do under the given circumstances is transfer your passenger rights from this journey to one of the numerous platforms available for this purpose. They will pursue the case on your behalf and take the airline to court if necessary. You have no risk and no liability in case they lose, but they regularly win. You will lose about 25% of your compensation in commission but it’s so much less hassle not...
The easiest thing to do under the given circumstances is transfer your passenger rights from this journey to one of the numerous platforms available for this purpose. They will pursue the case on your behalf and take the airline to court if necessary. You have no risk and no liability in case they lose, but they regularly win. You will lose about 25% of your compensation in commission but it’s so much less hassle not having to deal with the airlines yourself.
I had an irrops case with AA in MIA with an involuntary overnight, when they refused to cover anything (no hotel, no meals, no rebooking onto another airline). With two people we spent EUR 1500 to rescue the situation ourselves. AA tried to blame weather.
Back in Europe I passed the case to a passenger rights service company. In the end they took AA to court and earned EUR 2240 for us in reimbursed expenses plus compensation. Obviously the actual payment the airline was ruled to pay out was around EUR 3000 and the service company took the difference as commission, but in the end we were happy with the result and the fact that we didn’t have to deal with stubborn and dishonest AA anymore ourselves.
Some of these service companies will buy your rights and even pay you straight away, regardless of how the dispute will go, but this involves a larger commission and I don’t recommend it.
Like the bad hotel options AA offers when they do feel responsible (Ben wrote about recently) this is entirely systematic and on purpose. They make it tedious and difficult on purpose so that most people give up at some point. Our case with AA dragged on for 17 months….
In that same period they probably had hundreds or thousands of passengers dropping their case due to the deliberate unhelpfulness of them. It pays to be dishonest and difficult in this case…
People are correct it is likely a bot. But you gave them a fair shake. Take them to court for fraud.
Completely luck of the draw. Had a 2-day delay due to air traffic control strike in France a month ago, returning to the US from France on British with connection in LHR. They rebooked the ticket on Lufthansa. Just for fun, submitted online compensation claim with BA. Next day got a response - this was out of our control, but we are covering your costs anyway. No status, basic economy ticket. That was a very pleasant surprise.
There is a difference between being entitled to compensation and being entitled to reimbursement of your expenses. Under European regulations, the airlines have a duty of care and have to reimburse you even if the reason of the irregularity lies outside of their control.
Correct. My flight last summer from Basel to London was cancelled due to lightning storm. BA booked us on a flight the next afternoon from Zurich to London. BA reimbursed my train fare from Basel to Zurich and CHF50 in lunch costs for my wife and I (we stayed with friends over-night, but BA offered us a hotel in Zurich which we declined). But they threw out any claim for compensation.
Reimbursement is always required under EU and UK regs. Compensation isn't.
I work for AA, this is par for the course. They have a narcissistic management culture where they are never wrong. You should get UK government involved. Good luck.
Seems like flying AA is kind of like renting from Hertz
Ok, it's not that extreme but customer service line this will just continue to drive business away. I've enjoyed an AA free love for the past decade, it's so much nicer! I'm not at all saying that other airlines don't have their issues but AA really raises the bar in avoidable issues
The narrative herein illustrates the worst aspect of issues such as these -- employees who willfully ignore factual details and elements provided to them so that they can skip ahead to the conclusion that they (and the airline) want to get to. There are a limited set of conclusions to be drawn from this example: 1) The employees are illiterate; 2) The employee or the airline thinks that we (the public) are stupid; or 3)...
The narrative herein illustrates the worst aspect of issues such as these -- employees who willfully ignore factual details and elements provided to them so that they can skip ahead to the conclusion that they (and the airline) want to get to. There are a limited set of conclusions to be drawn from this example: 1) The employees are illiterate; 2) The employee or the airline thinks that we (the public) are stupid; or 3) they are flat-out lying to us. I'm not accusing them of any of these things, I am merely drawing what I think most people would see as a logical assessment.
Well, American is based in MAGA country and their Dear Leader lies all the time so they are right in line.
WTF are you talking about ?
seek help, mentally
So…I assume there is a consumer complaint office with the UK airline review agency. How does one proceed on that front?
Lucky boy.
How many more airline can u afford to offend & be banned from flying with them?
United.
EgyptAir.
Now American.
Can’t be a travel blogger if you can’t fly, ma boy.
P/s you were absolutely right about EgyptAir. I just returned from EWR with them. Yikes!!
Lucky is not banned from flying United FYI.
Just recently my wife and I successfully received not only $320 each in E vouchers but also $696 dollars each in compensation for a Delta flight that ended up departing a combined 36 hours late due to a maintenance issue. 4 hour initial delayed flight that was cancelled, then rescheduled flight. The flight originated from Catania and landed at JFK. The vouchers came within an hour of landing. While the compensation process was not what...
Just recently my wife and I successfully received not only $320 each in E vouchers but also $696 dollars each in compensation for a Delta flight that ended up departing a combined 36 hours late due to a maintenance issue. 4 hour initial delayed flight that was cancelled, then rescheduled flight. The flight originated from Catania and landed at JFK. The vouchers came within an hour of landing. While the compensation process was not what I would call easy and required some perseverance in the end Delta secured our future business. Everyone was pleasant to deal with and no one ever said we weren’t entitled to compensation. Just to top it off we booked with my wife’s delta card so we are going through the process for reimbursement of expenses we incurred from the long delay. No problems so far.
Ben, you should send this complaint to the UK authorities, USDOT, US Senators to Texas, Congressmen where American’s HQ is located in TX, and Investor Relations Team that covers American Airlines for Wall Street. You don’t need to play nice when other team plays dirty. Drag them through the mud until they beg to be left alone and take responsibility. Your complaint is on point. Break their balls.
Typical of AA.
@Ben, keep us posted on any further developments please. This info is very helpful for a lot of us.
How does Expert Flyer pick up the delay information, especially the remarks.
Your co,plaint was written by AI. No hu,an saw it. Escalate it
Cgifford’s comment wasn’t AI-generated — it lacks coherence, spellcheck, and any trace of intelligence.
Just as a matter of interest I checked out the AA rating on Trustpilot UK.
1.3 Bad, is the rating for this airline.
Even Ryanair does better on both platforms, therefore, AA must be extremely poor.
Surely those factors along with the SkyTrax abysmal rating of 83/100, is enough to put off any thinking person from parting with their cash or point to benefit this flying circus, yes?
Tally ho! Old poof is on a "roll" today! Or is that 'role'? No matter, spelling be damned when you're a clown employee on a "roll".
John, your gross ignorance is astounding and truly befitting of a Julie or Plain Jane fanboy …. with a tiny brain cell like yours, you will never be able to make America great again …. :-)
I am grateful that my home airport is not CLT, DFW ,MIA,or PHL. I do not fly American because of sh$t like this, appalling customer service (lack thereof) and the last 6 trips ( in First ) were crewed by FA's that went out of their way to be rude and sit in their jump seats rather than to a second beverage, pick up dishes etc etc etc.
Poor Ben.....you are stuck in MIA. Move to St. Pete and liberate yourself flying from TPA !
This is more than just a customer service issue; it's a systemic problem. Airlines like American Airlines are exploiting loopholes and banking on people giving up on their valid claims. The penalties for denying a legitimate EU261 claim need to be severe enough to make this behavior financially unviable.
A penalty system where the compensation is multiplied for every valid but initially denied claim would be a powerful deterrent. It would force airlines to process...
This is more than just a customer service issue; it's a systemic problem. Airlines like American Airlines are exploiting loopholes and banking on people giving up on their valid claims. The penalties for denying a legitimate EU261 claim need to be severe enough to make this behavior financially unviable.
A penalty system where the compensation is multiplied for every valid but initially denied claim would be a powerful deterrent. It would force airlines to process claims honestly the first time and remove the incentive for their employees to dishonestly deny them. We've seen similar issues in other industries, as depicted in movies like The Rainmaker, and it's clear that strong penalties are the only way to hold these corporations accountable.
I'd propose a 10x penalty paid to all impacted passengers if an airline dishonestly denies a valid claim.
If you can't resolve this how would the rest of us even have a hope?
But then again I've been down this road with AA and is the reason I haven't flown AA business class since 2013.
They didn't credit me my miles. It took 6 months with me calling every month. And every month the phone drone would say I assure you this will be fixed within 4 weeks and if course...
If you can't resolve this how would the rest of us even have a hope?
But then again I've been down this road with AA and is the reason I haven't flown AA business class since 2013.
They didn't credit me my miles. It took 6 months with me calling every month. And every month the phone drone would say I assure you this will be fixed within 4 weeks and if course nada. Month 6, I compiled all the email interactions and summary of phone conversations with date/time and I sent the whole thing to AA's marketing dept, directly to several vp, avp etc. And that's when they actually fixed it.... With barely an apology and more like fine here's your damn miles now st*u. And I thought wow they treat a revenue business class customer like crap, how lowly do they look at non revenue.
Please don't give up on pusuing this. Airlines need to be held accountable and they frequently are not. The facts are on your side. Good luck.
+1!
Prior maintenance delays means the aircraft inbound was delayed because of maintenance and that’s why your flight is delayed. Easiest thing to do is check with the FAA and see if there was a ATC delay scheduled for that flight on that particular day. Period.
A maintenance delay of any description does not exclude the airline from EU261. Very few things do.
I got a very similar type of response from AA the other day (different issue, same tone). It’s clearly all AI loosely supervised by humans. The bigger issue is that 3-6 months ago they would have offered something (some cash, 5k miles etc.). Post-Citi deal they are on lockdown. Just a complete mess over there right now.
Really? So snarky
If this happened to me, I would be angrier than JK Rowling when a trans person gets basic human rights.
And all AA had to do was hold that connecting flight for a couple minutes.
Give your subnormal analogy, I hope it happens many times to you, and your transgender spouse
Given your archaic and conservative view I think it would be best if y0u just kept your mouth shut.
Sheesh you two, get a room
Oh Christ! Eye roll
Get an annual travel insurance policy? This would be covered and you would get paid.
Every travel insurer tells you to go claim from the airline.
No they do not. I file a claims and the insurance pays. I have done it many times.
Misconnects are not covered...I've tried! Even though you might arrive at your destination 12 hours late because of overnight, the insurance/CC coverage usually claims that your delayed flight didn't arrive more than 6hrs late therefore no coverage for the overnight
I am surprised that they don’t have a tag on his profile mentioning that he is a journalist. What bad publicity to have this all online! Still, great for Ben not to leverage his position… although at some point AA would catch on.
They won’t ban him for these stories. That would be insane publicity in the U.S.
Bloggers aren't journalists.
Do we even have very many left in the country? They're more rare than bald eagles. If Edward R Murrow spins anymore in his grave it would be a Disneyland ride.
As much as I admire and respect @Ben, but he's not a journalist.
Thats why he is trustworthy and reliable
Have you read any journalist, recently?
They will if Mr Trump tells them to.
I was expecting the double-down from AA lol. Get'em Ben!
I got similar response in a delay two days later LHR-DFW in AA business class. Flight was also delayed incoming, but in their defense if you look at flights that day, many flights were delayed or canceled. Apparently there have been some ongoing issues with the radars and air traffic control in LHR this past week. So, join the club
Very interesting.
Can someone with EF access research for me historical listed reasons for these delays:
Monday July 21, 2025, Edelweiss WK17 DEN-ZRH
Thursday July 28, 2025 Air France AF630 CDG-DEN
Thursday July 28, 2025 Delta DL0424 JFK-DEN
Unfortunately, this data on EF only goes back a few days. I've checked just now and can only go back to 29 Jul :(
Paraphrasing the old quip about statistics, THERE ARE LIES, DAMN LIES, and AMERICAN AIRLINES.
So true. Some years back had a similar problem in DFW. American claimed weather related cancellation of our flight yet two other flights to the same city departed on time. Our plane was sitting at the gate “ready to go” and then suddenly the board showed that that same plane was now flying to another city. Weather in DFW and our destination ABQ was fine and both other planes took off and landed on time....
So true. Some years back had a similar problem in DFW. American claimed weather related cancellation of our flight yet two other flights to the same city departed on time. Our plane was sitting at the gate “ready to go” and then suddenly the board showed that that same plane was now flying to another city. Weather in DFW and our destination ABQ was fine and both other planes took off and landed on time. They refused to provide a hotel and said they would book the five of us ASAP but not likely for at least 1 or 2 days. Many hours later after waiting on “customer service lines” we ended up paying for two hotel rooms and the next day after not being rebooked we rented a car a drove to ABQ. Complaints to AA went nowhere and multiple complaints to the FAA were answered each time by AA claiming weather even though I showed that the weather in both cities was fine and two other flights were not delayed/cancelled. Terrible airline. Prior to that I had flown AA everywhere.
I note the Southwest also pulls the same stunt - taking a plane for a scheduled flight and then flying it elsewhere leaving the passengers stranded.
One final note on the AA flight. Our bags did make it to ABQ the same day our flight was cancelled. AA would not let us get our bags so we had only the clothes on our back for the duration until we got back to ABQ.
What are the next steps if they don't pay - I assume you can take this up with he UK authority? AA is clearly misrepresenting themselves here and caught red handed.
Pass the case to a passenger rights service portal (as I describe above).
If you have legal insurance, you can pass it to a lawyer yourself, but be careful to select one with experience in this field.
Going to different points of appeal in either or both UK and USA may drag on forever and in the end, just for simplicity, come up with with a mediation proposal giving you less than what you were entitled to.
I was just on a Delta flight that was diverted to Birmingham from Atlanta last Tuesday. At first they said it was weather, though the weather radar and ATL information said that weather was just fine though it would deteriorate in 3 or so hours. Then they said it was a fuel shortage that caused the diversion (though an international flight arriving with insufficient fuel for traffic conditions is highly unusual.) After we landed in...
I was just on a Delta flight that was diverted to Birmingham from Atlanta last Tuesday. At first they said it was weather, though the weather radar and ATL information said that weather was just fine though it would deteriorate in 3 or so hours. Then they said it was a fuel shortage that caused the diversion (though an international flight arriving with insufficient fuel for traffic conditions is highly unusual.) After we landed in Birmingham, the aircrew finally admitted that B'ham is their home station and that if they waited in line to land at ATL, they would have to RON in Atlanta instead of going home. So we got to wait in a sweltering aircraft with no air conditioning until another aircrew arrived from God knows where to fly us from Birmingham to Atlanta. We arrived after midnight and instead of driving home were forced to stay the night in a hotel at out own expense.
Airlines and aircrews really don't care. All they want is that last penny they can squeeze out of you and why they have to be constantly reminded to stop calling passengers "cattle."
Some comments raise the point that the inbound flight might not be the same aircraft as the outbound, but that's not the case here, as is obvious from the first post and from data available at FlightRadar. The question for AA here is, why do they allow only a two-hour connection time at ORD for international arrivals? Or to be precise, 1 hour and 59 minutes. Alternatively, why do they allow through tickets from LHR...
Some comments raise the point that the inbound flight might not be the same aircraft as the outbound, but that's not the case here, as is obvious from the first post and from data available at FlightRadar. The question for AA here is, why do they allow only a two-hour connection time at ORD for international arrivals? Or to be precise, 1 hour and 59 minutes. Alternatively, why do they allow through tickets from LHR to MIA via ORD? When there are nonstops and East Coast connections. When I'm CEO, the rule is going to be "OK, we'll let you do that, but only with a 4-hour connection because it looks like you're shopping for compensation."
Ben, Please e-mail Mr. David Seymour at AA. He is Executive Vice President of AA’s global operations. You will get a direct reply from him.
[email protected]
Note to Robert Isom. Want to know why as a lifetime platinum, frequent traveler, living in Dallas I fly AA is an infrequently as possible:
Your airline never misses an opportunity to suck,
I am dealing with my own AA customer service nightmare right now a month after my flight from FCO-DFW was canceled twice. I booked an AA flight with Qatar Avios and my flight was canceled. AA rebooked me on flight next day however that flight was canceled too. I ended up canceling for a refund and booking my own flight on United, not wanting to deal with AA customer service after having such a bad...
I am dealing with my own AA customer service nightmare right now a month after my flight from FCO-DFW was canceled twice. I booked an AA flight with Qatar Avios and my flight was canceled. AA rebooked me on flight next day however that flight was canceled too. I ended up canceling for a refund and booking my own flight on United, not wanting to deal with AA customer service after having such a bad experience with the first cancelation. Since the second flight was rebooked by AA and has AA ticket number, Qatar is now saying the status is showing as open and AA needs to refund them the points first before they can refund my Avios. American will not even look into it and just keep saying i need to call Qatar for refund. This is after many HUCAs on both sides. Not sure who is really at fault since the flight was canceled two days in a row. Any ideas on where I should focus my efforts or is it hopeless that ill get my 90k Avios back.
Not sure about how to get the points but you can a) get the expenses for accodomation and food and taxis during the delay (EU261 Duty of Care, regardless of reason for delay) and b) 600 EU for the delay in excess of 3hours.
They'll lie so you can either a0 walk away from it b) pass over to a 3rd party to persue, I've used Bott and Co succesfully or c) file a complaint/claim...
Not sure about how to get the points but you can a) get the expenses for accodomation and food and taxis during the delay (EU261 Duty of Care, regardless of reason for delay) and b) 600 EU for the delay in excess of 3hours.
They'll lie so you can either a0 walk away from it b) pass over to a 3rd party to persue, I've used Bott and Co succesfully or c) file a complaint/claim with the ADR (This is what I do). I have just filed one this week for a Ryan Air cancellation into FCO.
You can file here : https://www.autorita-trasporti.it/conciliaweb/ It will take you 30 minutes (max)
Ben, someday I would love a blog with a checklist of the screenshots, sources, and other types of "proof" you keep for your trips in case of issues. Also tips for how you keep it all organized. Thank you!
you make it to complicated. In Germany we have these cases with lufthansa so often. they always say weather etc.. I then use the emails from dr. Böse, my lawyer in Düsseldorf to set a deadline in two weeks when they have to transfer the money. after that it goes it way with my lawyer. In Germany you have no costs if you win the case and the cost are very limited cause of the...
you make it to complicated. In Germany we have these cases with lufthansa so often. they always say weather etc.. I then use the emails from dr. Böse, my lawyer in Düsseldorf to set a deadline in two weeks when they have to transfer the money. after that it goes it way with my lawyer. In Germany you have no costs if you win the case and the cost are very limited cause of the small amount. I always won and it are a lot of cases every year. But hat you can only do if the flight has contact with Germany (German airline or Germany connection). if not I would use flightright or something like that. They helped me with TAP to get my 600 EUR but they take a percentage. have fun.
Dr.Bose
You made me spilled my coffee.
When you thought Dr.Dre was the only one with a degree selling headphones.
Legend
I about lost it when you said your lawyer is Dr. Boese! Classic!!
he is a legend in Germany for fighting against airlines. Many interesting cases.
https://www.drboese.de
This is happening while Ben is being quoted in a New York Times op-ed for his views on airport lounges. Ben is too modest to suggest the employee refer the matter, and the article, to the supervisor. Or maybe it just makes a better story when they don't know who they are dealing with.
You're not dealing with an employee, you are dealing with a bot. What you need to do is get ahold of a real human being. Right now you're lost in a maze of bots programmed to tell you to f off. Even as an EXP you will get put in bot farm hell.
I think *this* is the answer.
Aren’t there multiple reasons for delay here? Air Traffic Control did delay you on arrival to Chicago which prevented you from making your connection, so in their eyes they are correct. Which delay supersedes the others?
UK261 is very clear that an air traffic control delay an airline experiences *because* an aircraft was late due to a maintenance issue is not force majeure.
several years ago I was on an AA flight from Miami to NYC. the pilot announced a maintenance issue. then the crew timed out. while searching for another crew, they deplaned us and AA kept bumping out the departure time. eventually ATC withdrew their departure slot. AA blamed them and offered zero compensation. due to the late hour, the airport refused to release the luggage. fun times.
I did a little digging on this one, since I delay flights in my capacity as an airline dispatch coordinator. First, we do charge delays to downline MX if the ensuing delay blows a slot time. However, if the outbound flight turns with the allotted turn time, the flight -might- be delayed due to ATC. We just don’t know about the circumstances. This only applies to the outbound flight if the inbound flight is the...
I did a little digging on this one, since I delay flights in my capacity as an airline dispatch coordinator. First, we do charge delays to downline MX if the ensuing delay blows a slot time. However, if the outbound flight turns with the allotted turn time, the flight -might- be delayed due to ATC. We just don’t know about the circumstances. This only applies to the outbound flight if the inbound flight is the aircraft that operates the outbound delayed flight.
I read up on UK261. Here’s what it says:
Yes, UK261 (along with its EU equivalent, EU261) does apply to missed connections, potentially entitling you to compensation and assistance.
Here's how it generally works:
You can claim compensation if you missed your connecting flight due to a delay, cancellation, or overbooking of a preceding flight.
The crucial factor for compensation is whether you arrive at your final destination more than three hours late.
The missed connection must have occurred due to a disruption within the airline's control, not due to extraordinary circumstances (like severe weather or air traffic control strikes) or your fault (like arriving late at the gate).
The connecting flights must be part of the same booking (single reservation), not separate tickets.
The flights must have departed from or landed in the UK or EU to be eligible under UK261/EU261.
What you might be entitled to
Compensation: The amount depends on the flight distance and the length of the delay at your final destination, ranging from £220 to £520.
Care and Assistance: The airline is obligated to provide meals, refreshments, two phone calls or emails, and potentially accommodation and transport to and from the hotel if your rebooked flight is for the next day.
Alternative flight or refund: The airline must rebook you on the next available flight or offer a full refund if you choose not to travel.
You are entitled to the compensation based on the law. This appears to be clear, so long as your delay is greater than 3 hours (apparent from your post) and the itinerary is on the same ticket.
As far as the actual delay, it is likely that the delay on the flight was charged to ATC unless the inbound aircraft made up the flight that you were taking outbound. That would be the only circumstance that we would charge it to late MX. This isn’t clear from your post.
You will need to do more investigation. If the circumstances are that the flight was charged to ATC, you would need to point out in your next letter that the inbound flight was delayed for maintenance, your connection was blown and it caused you a 10 hour delay. The fact that the connecting flight was charged to ATC didn’t matter.
Here’s where it gets to be a problem. Your flight from LHR was not delayed more than three hours and it may have been incorrectly charged to ATC. You have to prove that the inbound flight was on the same aircraft as the outbound flight. If it wasn’t, then you aren’t entitled to compensation. If it was, then you should be entitled to compensation. From your post one could infer that it was, but AA has to show that.
AA can do that, since the last time that happened to me, they could prove it. I would suggest you do the same.
AA may not be wrong about this. We need more information. You might be entitled to compensation. You might not.
Accusing them of a flat out lie is argumentative and may not be ground in fact. If anything, this might have been a mistake on the part of customer service and you need to pursue this further.
“You have to prove” part is incorrect. The onus under UK 261 / EU 261 is on the airline. That’s simply the law.
Who does the airline "charge" the delay to in its internal system is not a concern of the law, the regulation doesn't care about that. The regulation - and the courts - care about reality.
The 261/2004 doesn't simply refer to "extraordinary circumstances", which is a shortcut many seem to take. It actually refers to extraordinary circumstances outside of airline's control *that could not be avoided even if the airline would take all reasonable precautions*....
Who does the airline "charge" the delay to in its internal system is not a concern of the law, the regulation doesn't care about that. The regulation - and the courts - care about reality.
The 261/2004 doesn't simply refer to "extraordinary circumstances", which is a shortcut many seem to take. It actually refers to extraordinary circumstances outside of airline's control *that could not be avoided even if the airline would take all reasonable precautions*. Furthermore there is ECJ judicature confirming that maintenance is considered within airline's control.
American Airlines can blame the delay on unicorns in their internal system if they wish, the facts are still clear: The original delay was caused by maintenance issues, which are airline's "fault", and while the subsequent increase of the delay may have been caused by ATC restrictions, it would not occur if AA had a properly maintained plane ready. It was within AA's control to prevent this delay and that's all that matters.
"Severe weather" doesn't stop an EU claim. It's too subjective - there has to be some ATC limitations. Flying in severe weather is inherant to running an airline....
This is what the airlines like to have you believe,
The delay of the first outbound flight is irrelevant. The regulations look at the final delay at your destination in order to determine your eligibility for compensation.
Put AA in its place. Some news agency needs to pick up on this
Ben.
I think you are absolutely in the right here, but by putting this dispute on a public forum you may be taking a bigger risk then you realize. If I were you I would try to resolve this with AA privately.
@ John -- I'm genuinely curious, what kind of a risk are you referring to?
Any US airline can permanently ban you from flying on them as long as it’s not discriminatory in nature. AA could claim you are not being truthful about what happened and are deliberately using a public forum to damage their brand. I’m not saying they will do this, I’m just saying I would be careful if I were you.
The contents of your posts are very interesting John. So much so that it becomes exceedingly difficult to justify ever flying with a U.S. airline.
Ben lay it all out clearly. He's not scamming the company. The worst case scenario would be AA decides to lock Ben's account. What publicity nightmare would that be to AA for not giving Ben a flight compensation that is owed. AA ultimately cares about the dollar sign. They would lose a lot more if this story starts to get traction elsewhere. Sadly, that's the best way to resolve these problems.
AA is saying they don't owe him flight compensation. Airlines know if they make it hard most people will drop it and go away, such a small amount of money just isn't worth it to Joe Traveler to hire a lawyer to fight it
AA lost multiple bags in an international flight and would not reimburse me for the value of luggages and what was inside even though I had filed lost luggage report in the airport and followed multiple times after that, because they believed I waited two long (about a year) to ask for compensation. I had to go small claims court and then even to higher courts to get the compensation. AA has decided that the...
AA lost multiple bags in an international flight and would not reimburse me for the value of luggages and what was inside even though I had filed lost luggage report in the airport and followed multiple times after that, because they believed I waited two long (about a year) to ask for compensation. I had to go small claims court and then even to higher courts to get the compensation. AA has decided that the customer satisfaction is not worth the money they spend on it, so they chose to fight in court, lie in your face, or whatever else it takes to keep the money.
And their airports agents’ morale is visibly low, and some of them have adopted some lessons from the aggressive and dishonest approach of the corporation toward the customets. It is truly a sad state for an airline that was once great, and can still be only if …
Well, why tf did you wait *one year* before making your claim?
Because Montreal convention gives passengers two years to claim their rights regarding lost luggage, and AA is bound by that.
AA lies all the time about reasons for flight delays. No consequences with DOT, so it continues.
As you file a complaint with the relevant regulators, I would also send an email to the CEO of American so that way someone on the executive team at American can review it.
recently flew United and they tell you if it’s a technical problem and they even put the aircraft number on their website. They are the only airline I know who does this. I love that they are honest.
I've had plenty pf dishonest responses from United in my 2 million miles!
A technical problem is within the control of the airline - you have a valid EU261 claim.
American has done this multiple times to me, and it's infuriating. They will absolutely flat out lie about the reason for delays. CLT seems especially bad. In my experience, AA is far worse than any other airline about this.
FWIW, Delta would do the same. Recently, I had a known crew delay (based on GA's view in the system) and later ATC. Crew never showed up and Delta pushed the liability to the ATC. What's the Delta Difference? They don't disclose delay reasons on EF so it's easier to protect the "Premium" illusion.
American plays fast and loose and it drives me nuts. Something needs to be done about this. In May I flew RDU-JFK-LHR in paid First. The flight from RDU-JFK was delayed 3 hours; I missed my connection to LHR and was unable to be accommodated on any flights that night or the following morning; the earliest they could get me out of JFK to LHR was 6pm - representing an almost 24 hour delayed arrival...
American plays fast and loose and it drives me nuts. Something needs to be done about this. In May I flew RDU-JFK-LHR in paid First. The flight from RDU-JFK was delayed 3 hours; I missed my connection to LHR and was unable to be accommodated on any flights that night or the following morning; the earliest they could get me out of JFK to LHR was 6pm - representing an almost 24 hour delayed arrival into LHR.
EU stuff aside (I booked a BA-operated, AA-marketed flight from JFK to LHR originally, so a bit of a gray area there), I needed a hotel for that night. When I asked the rude lounge agents in the Chelsea Lounge, they said it was ATC related and not their responsibility. So I paid for my own hotel and then sought out the justification from American to get reimbursed by my travel insurance. The travel justification indicated mechanical (not ATC), so travel insurance wouldn't cover, so I had to back to American who did eventually after much back and forth finally did reimburse me directly for a portion of the hotel, so then went back to trip insurance to get the difference. When I wrote to complain, hoping for some bonus miles, they said that it was ATC so no compensation would be given.
Not sure what to make of the back and forth, but sounds like American is up to no good...
This has happened to me twice in the past year with AA, and yes, I am also a status holder. Each time, the fare agents/ supervisors have claimed “ ATC delay” and therefore no overnight hotel or duty of care. Worse, when questioned and presented such evidence, the agents threaten to call security. This seems to be the policy at AA. Would love for a good lawyer to look at class action on this. I’m out over $500 of my own money due to this airlines refusal of facts.
What I don't understand is why more people don't take issue to small claims court.
When I lived in WA state, I did so twice. Gathered all my facts, filled out request for hearing, and a nominal fee. In both cases I presented facts. Airlines in both cases could not refute facts. I was awarded amounts I asked for in both cases. I once asked a trial lawyer why airlines slink away in court actions....
What I don't understand is why more people don't take issue to small claims court.
When I lived in WA state, I did so twice. Gathered all my facts, filled out request for hearing, and a nominal fee. In both cases I presented facts. Airlines in both cases could not refute facts. I was awarded amounts I asked for in both cases. I once asked a trial lawyer why airlines slink away in court actions. He said they usually win in negotiations with customer, because they always include a threat.
Once in court, they usually fold. Go for it.
I will second this - just take the airline to small claims court. Did it once when an airline denied me boarding as well as any compensation. Got all non-refundable costs compensated (including hotels, ticket on another carrier) before the hearing. If you have proofs for the circumstances you are claiming, you should not fear taking the airline to court.
Oops, meant UK 261
Please keep us posted if you pursue. DOT doesn’t seem like the right place.
Ben, you aren’t pursuing an Eu 261 claim? That’s the only way they’ll learn.
Unfortunately, it is normal airline behaviour to try and weasel their way out of paying any kind of compensation.
As an HON with the LHG it’s perhaps easier to see the decline. All the paperwork was taken care of for us in the past but those days are long gone and now flight delays or damaged/lost baggage is in the first case ignored by the Lufthansa group. They do have a decent website in...
Unfortunately, it is normal airline behaviour to try and weasel their way out of paying any kind of compensation.
As an HON with the LHG it’s perhaps easier to see the decline. All the paperwork was taken care of for us in the past but those days are long gone and now flight delays or damaged/lost baggage is in the first case ignored by the Lufthansa group. They do have a decent website in order to register your claim, but it does take a long time and it is usually refused initially. Then similar to your experience with American they will often invent a history and blame it on for example the generic weather. However other flights were proceeding without timetable problems. I have so many flights with circa 20 open issues (15%) that I cannot process due to time constraints. Unfortunately this encourages such behaviour. There’s a lot of similarities with insurance companies!
When possible - with a few exceptions - always fly a European based, Asian based, or Middle Eastern based airline in lieu of a US carrier. You can get points through the alliances. But foreign carriers are generally in the transportation business - planes and passengers are how they make money so they care about both. US carriers are in the credit card business. Their aurcradt and their self-loading cargo are just a conduit to credit card users.
I knew to a metaphysical certainty that this post was coming
(and on that note: good on you for pursuing this. It is the only way they learn.)
This morning on the AA app, flight 415 was Delayed and did not leave on time due to maintenance issues. At the same time, according to Flightaware, that flight left on time and was Taxiing for Takeoff for over an hour. I suppose AA posted that it left on time when, in fact, it was stuck due to aircraft problems? AA415 DFW-PHL.
Unfortunately, this is exactly why claim companies exist. I have to admit, trying to get compensation from airlines became so frustrating and time-consuming that I ended up paying for a yearly membership with one of these services. Since then, every time they've handled my case, I’ve received compensation — I don’t even bother contacting the airline myself anymore.
This kind of anti-consumer attitude is what got the airlines into trouble in the first place. I...
Unfortunately, this is exactly why claim companies exist. I have to admit, trying to get compensation from airlines became so frustrating and time-consuming that I ended up paying for a yearly membership with one of these services. Since then, every time they've handled my case, I’ve received compensation — I don’t even bother contacting the airline myself anymore.
This kind of anti-consumer attitude is what got the airlines into trouble in the first place. I honestly hope they have to cover the extra costs of being challenged by these claim companies.
Could you share the name of the company you've used? Thanks.
I've used Bott and Co one time, Now I do it on my own with the relevant ADR. It's easy. Batting 1000
@fnscl: which company did you use? The one I used (AirHelp) when Swiss refused payment was no help at all.
I used a claim company once (Airhelp), with an SK delay out of CPH. SK lied about the reason for the delay and I provided Airhelp with documentation. Yet they simply accepted SK's word and didn't push back at all, despite the proof. Don't waste your time, these companies only go for the easy win so they don't expend resources fighting the airline.
There are plenty of service offerings available out there which don’t require an annual membership. Not very well researched on your side…
I mean AA wouldn’t have offered you a hotel room in Chicago if it had been ATC. Any flyer of any frequency who has has a delay like that knows they go ahead and tell you your on your own in that case.
EU261 requires airline provide hotel accommodation and meals regardless of delay reason.
It's only for compensation that the extra criteria applies.
As someone living in Europe this is not uncommon.
Two recent examples:
1. Flying Lufthansa from FRA to LAX via ORD. Delay departing FRA. Captain made an announcement to apologise for the delay which was 'due to waiting for luggage to be delivered to the aircraft'. I missed my connection in ORD, claimed EU261. Lufthansa denied it claiming that the reason for the delay was weather.
2. Flying Finnair from LHR to Tallin via...
As someone living in Europe this is not uncommon.
Two recent examples:
1. Flying Lufthansa from FRA to LAX via ORD. Delay departing FRA. Captain made an announcement to apologise for the delay which was 'due to waiting for luggage to be delivered to the aircraft'. I missed my connection in ORD, claimed EU261. Lufthansa denied it claiming that the reason for the delay was weather.
2. Flying Finnair from LHR to Tallin via HEL. Delayed departure from LHR, again missed connection in HEL. Applied for EU261 - denied, given ATC as the reason. This was PARTLY the truth. My aircraft had flown HEL-HKG with a delay ex HEL due to ATC. Then HKG-HEL, HEL-LHR then my flight LHR-HEL.
In both cases I did not engage further with the airlines. You just are going to get nowhere. I simply contacted one of the plethora of 'no win no fee' organisations that know what they are doing and pursue your case like a dog with a bone.
In both cases, the airlines balked right at the last minute before the case being heard in a consumer court and the company I used took their 25% cut and I walked away with little effort and no stress.
I don't think they pursue the case "like a dog with a bone" . I do agree with you though. Endless emails back and forth lead nowhere. Either just pass it straight to one of the no win / no fee companies or do it yourself. It's easy. Main point is don't believe the BS the airlines feed you and don't walk away.
Duck, what company to you use, to get your compensation?
They don’t instruct employees to be dishonest. It could be an error. Just write back with the supporting proof.
HAH! I have a bridge I'd like to see you....
I agree. What they prefer to do is hire really clueless employees, give them scripts but don't provide solutions when they have to go off script. This let's the company throw the employee under the bus when things hit the fan and have plausible denial.
@Lucky. Swiss did the same to me. I had pictures of the monitor showing that their flight was delayed because of a maintenance issue. 2 hours later they got another plane which also had maintenance issues, that was cancelled as well. 5 hrs later we departed. Swiss refused to pay anything, they said it was weather related. The photos of their gate monitor showing maintenance mattered nothing to them.
During this whole saga they...
@Lucky. Swiss did the same to me. I had pictures of the monitor showing that their flight was delayed because of a maintenance issue. 2 hours later they got another plane which also had maintenance issues, that was cancelled as well. 5 hrs later we departed. Swiss refused to pay anything, they said it was weather related. The photos of their gate monitor showing maintenance mattered nothing to them.
During this whole saga they put a wheelchair-bound elderly lady on the first plane, but then forgot to remove her when the plane was towed away from the gate for maintenance. Several of us were demanding that they board the plane and remove that poor lady!
Same here, also with Swiss (LX)! Fortunately, I had documented the entire case, which I sent to the FOCA (Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation). Shortly thereafter, Swiss paid the full compensation - “without prejudice or acknowledgement of any obligation to pay”.
@Andy. I wish I knew about that option. After AirHelp and another company couldn't get the money for me, I just gave up.
But what happened to 'your' wheelchair-bound elderly lady this time ?
...lol
@bossa. She was from an Eastern European country, but unfortunately she did not speak English. When they started to push the plane back to maintenance hangar I guess, we were shouting at the Swiss agents until the police came. The Swiss agents did not believe us that there was a lady on the plane. When the poor wheelchair-bound lady was finally offloaded, she was sobbing.
This is why I fly Delta.
Every aircraft ready to fly at the beginning of the day. -- Robert Isom
Afterthought …. Why would any thinking person, with the full knowledge of the world airline industry and your experience Ben, ever choose to fly transcontinental with AA?
Was it really worthwhile?
Agree.
That's why I avoid the dreadful BA and fly the much better AA.
…. :-) …. Drunk again Bro?
So that Ben could review AA's new 787 business class seats, as there are people who for whatever reason do fly AA internationally.
Good point jallan, fair enough for the sake of the review.
As for someone flying AA internationally by choice, the logic of that part escapes me, sorry old bean.
A flight from LHR to DFW is not “transcontinental”…
Interesting to contrast this with my recent experience with Delta.
When they were affected by the hail storm in ATL in late June, it resulted in subsequent cancellations the next day all over the country. My flight the next day was cancelled because the inbound aircraft was affected by the weather issues in ATL and I had to stay overnight out of town. Delta proactively decided to cover all costs customers incurred due to this...
Interesting to contrast this with my recent experience with Delta.
When they were affected by the hail storm in ATL in late June, it resulted in subsequent cancellations the next day all over the country. My flight the next day was cancelled because the inbound aircraft was affected by the weather issues in ATL and I had to stay overnight out of town. Delta proactively decided to cover all costs customers incurred due to this incident even though the root cause was weather.
I submitted $500 of hotel, meal, and ground transportation expenses and Delta deposited full payment into my bank account within 5 days.
I live in an AA hub but switched to Delta as my primary airline in 2019 due to numerous delays and rude customer service interactions with American. I have had better reliability connecting with Delta than I did flying direct with American. Plus far better onboard product, friendlier customer service, and much nicer SkyClubs (that do not have lines 99% of the time, in my experience). Thank you for reminding me to be grateful I made the switch - do not miss American at all.
Delta blows AA out of the water and it’s not even close.
Lol you must not fly real airlines. We are comparing a D- to an F?
What a bunch of whiny little wusses. Especially those in premium classes. There are too many Kardashians in this world. Don’t emulate them. Travel is filled with potholes. Move on or stay home.
Ben,
It seems like you’ll just need to escalate with customer relations. Recently, my parents had a similar delay and a few more emails did the trick. Their flight was booked with Alaska miles and they tried to say we had to contact Alaska.
It’s definitely frustrating when you’re a knowledgeable flyer and can find the facts and are still lied to.
Where did Ben pull up the info about the delay? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
ExpertFlyer
Expertflyer. I'm not a subscriber so would welcome any suggestions if anyone knows where the information can be found for free!
Can you file a U.S. DOT complaint about failure to abide by a UK regulation?
The appropriate escalation is to get American to respond with their final response (it has to use those words) then you can go to arbitration at cedr.com/aviation
AA pay the arbitration fees and these arbitrators usually lean towards favoring the airline.
"My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts."
In other news Lucky what do you make of this?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/tourist-bond-visa-travelers
Sorry Aaron, nobody in their right mind is going to open a link to the Guardian ‘viewspaper’.
One has to either subscribe or submit to the myriad of website trackers installed on one’s equipment. Such a disreputable practice and media outlet.
"downgraded, suspended, misconnected, and lied to"
This is the bad version of 'hitting for the cycle' in the airline world.
Am I missing something? Can’t it be argued that the reason you missed the connection is because of the additional delay waiting for a gate in ORD? That doesn’t sound like it’s within AA control. If a missed connection has more than one cause, it seems like a more difficult case
They are responsible for paying the hotel even if it’s out of their control according to EU/UK261 law.
The reason there wasn't a gate available at ORD was because the flight missed its assigned arrival slot due to the delayed arrival departure from London which was because of its late arrival there because of maintenance issues.
Is any reader really surprised by the total lack of customer satisfaction when choosing AA?
After all they do languish in the bottom quarter of the Top 100 of the World Rankings.
Fly AA at your peril.
Something similar happened to a friend of mine. He was on a flight from Dallas to NY that got cancelled. AA blamed it on “weather in New York.” Only I was in New York that day. It was clear skies, no breeze, and reasonable temperatures (for summer at least). Now granted, could there be something unseen that affects flights? Of course. But I don’t think it would be enough to *cancel* a flight.
The amount...
Something similar happened to a friend of mine. He was on a flight from Dallas to NY that got cancelled. AA blamed it on “weather in New York.” Only I was in New York that day. It was clear skies, no breeze, and reasonable temperatures (for summer at least). Now granted, could there be something unseen that affects flights? Of course. But I don’t think it would be enough to *cancel* a flight.
The amount of times I or someone I know has been told something by AA customer relations I know to be untrue is more than I care to count.
A simple question. Based on your comments about AA, we do you keep flying them.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.
This behaviour is not unique to AA. IME every single ariline does this - they flat out lie. There is very little wiggle room with EU261 that allows the Ailrines off the hook for compensation. They will lie, lie, lie through their teeth with any excuse possible, I've had Norwegian, Virgin, United and currently Ryan Air do this. The first time around I used an agency to recover the compensation and paid I think 35...
This behaviour is not unique to AA. IME every single ariline does this - they flat out lie. There is very little wiggle room with EU261 that allows the Ailrines off the hook for compensation. They will lie, lie, lie through their teeth with any excuse possible, I've had Norwegian, Virgin, United and currently Ryan Air do this. The first time around I used an agency to recover the compensation and paid I think 35 % but since then I just use the relevany ADR. So far I am batting 1000 for recovery.
The airlines assume most (virtually) all passengers either aren't aware of EU261, don't bother claiming under EU261 or believe their line of Bulls**t they feed people. They're a bunch of MoFos, especially Michael O'Leary CEO of Ryan Air that implores people to "follow the rules" re. baggage fees when he implores his staff to lie, lie, lie and break the law re. EU261.
Yeah, BA does the same thing… You need to go to MCOL or CEDR and then BA magically changes its mind…
AA has outside itself. But i hope they learn and many more passengers who were inconvenienced put forward their claims and get that ca$h.
F*ck around and find out!
Highly dishonest of AA. Their partner Finnair was also dishonest and obfuscatory to me. Terrible business practice. I am so glad that you are holding them responsible.
I sued Finnair under UK consumer law (traditional tort/breach of contract stuff) and their defence was going on and on about why the claim wasn't eligible for 261 compensation (which wasn't being claimed). Was quite looking forward to a fun day in court, but they unfortunately paid up just before the hearing!
1) How long afterwards can you see the information on ExpertFlyer? A post about that would be amazing.
2) Did they try to stiff you on the hotel and meals too?
Yes, that would be super useful. Not just EF, but anywhere that the information may be found!
+1
I *think* you have 3 days to find it on expertflyer before it gets purged/vanished/whatever.
I just looked into this and it let me see a week back. Just a data point.
Ben may have better info but in my experience it is entirely haphazard. you basically have to keep checking.
I saw a similar post earlier today regarding LH also playing the ATC card. For those of us less savvy about resources than you, an inspection of flights on Flightradar24 leaving the departure airport soon makes clear if only one flight is significantly delayed (so most likely the airline's fault) or several (so more likely to be an ATC issue). I used FR24 to effect during an ongoing suit with LH.
If they paid for your hotel (which they did...sort of) because of their delay, that's prima facie evidence that AA has acknowledged that the delay was within their control.
Nope - they have to pay for the hotel regardless. EU 261 "Duty of Care"
You're mistaken, the "right to care" doesn't cover ATC or weather, so IF AA had been telling the truth, they wouldn't have covered his hotel.
it's as if O'Hare didn't get the memo about lying until after the hotel voucher was issued.
This trip was under EU/UK261 legislation, where "duty of care" is ALWAYS mandatory for the airline. Only the cash compensation depends on the reason for the deleay.
Maybe someone should point this out to Heather Garboden, chief customer officer
Would a DOT complaint really apply in this situation, since you're claiming under UK 261, and not a US DOT mandated compensation scheme?
I'm with @GRKennedy, the regulators for UK 261 would be a much more appropriate organization to open a claim with.
On a tangent, did Ford open a CTA complaint with AA and try to get compensation that way?
@ Andrew -- The complaint wouldn't be about UK261 as such, but instead, about airlines systematically lying to customers about the reasons for delays, which I think is a reason for concern.
I have had the following positive experiences with American Airlines in the past 12 months:
- Once they ran a flight more or less on time
(end of list)
You're too generous.
On time is NOT a positive experience.
It is expected.
Doing an extra drink service or upgrade you as a non elite just because you dress well and on your honeymoon. That is above expectations.
This generous rating ideology is ruining the global feedback and review system.
Just like tipping culture.
5/5 should be awarded when it greatly exceed expectations.
3/5 is when it meets expectations.
Another thing...
You're too generous.
On time is NOT a positive experience.
It is expected.
Doing an extra drink service or upgrade you as a non elite just because you dress well and on your honeymoon. That is above expectations.
This generous rating ideology is ruining the global feedback and review system.
Just like tipping culture.
5/5 should be awarded when it greatly exceed expectations.
3/5 is when it meets expectations.
Another thing that Americans broke in addition to tipping.
I haven’t experience this, but last week I had cockroaches in my TATL flagship business suite this week. At least the crew got the 1.5 inch roach that climbed on the divider between me and the seat in front of me.
Unsurprisingly AA told this OWE to pound sand when I contacted support.
So much for their premium pivot!
Poor AA ... even that cockroach can't get decent service !
... lol
"For example, please see the flight notes for this flight, which I’ve also attached:
“LATE ARRV A/C DUE TO PRIOR MAINTENANCE DELAYS”
Don't f*%! with an AVGeek, AA. :) :) :)
The exact same thing happened to me a few weeks ago on Austrian Airlines; they outright lied about the reason for canceling my flight and also denied me compensation. Seems like a common practice.
Easy .
If you don't want to deal with it have a 3rd party do it for you. Bott and Co, Airhelp. There are many.
If you do want to deal with it file an on line claim with the relevant ADR (google it).
I wouldn't just walk away from it.
The aviation ADR in the UK is very helpful in that regard (I got easyJet and Wizzair, Who never pay suck thing's themselves, to pay for It) but I'm not sure AA participates
Are they not also responsible for your hotel cost?
Yep, and food and transportation. This is regardless of the reason for the delay. EU261 has 2 related components. 1. "Duty of care" which basically says the above is reimbursed / provided by the airline REGARDLESS of the reason. and 2. Compensation for the delay / cancellation - up to 600EU.
Just another day with AA!