Questions and Answers

If the departing flight from the airline’s hub is 7 hours late because the arriving aircraft was subject to ATC control, is the delay of the outbound flight under the airline’s control/responsibility? Would you say they have no responsibility because they are not responsible about the inbound flight, or would they have responsibility due to the lack of ability to provide an alternative aircraft for the outbound flight? Since ATC only affected the inbound flight, but never restricted the outbound.

Thanks for helping. Help appreciated

I would think they have some responsibility, but not much. At the end of the day, delays happen. Were you on a full-service airline? I don’t think being at a hub vs a non-hub would make a difference though… best of my knowledge, the rules aren’t different based on which airport you’re at

I’ve been in this situation before and ATC delays are not the airlines responsibility. They have greater flexibility for substitute aircraft at a hub, and normally they try to find another aircraft for the delayed outbound flight but it doesn’t always work out.