Co-Pilot’s death doesn’t exempt EU airlines from delay claims, court rules

The unexpected death of a co-pilot just before a planned flight isn’t a reason to exempt airlines from paying compensation to delayed passengers, the European Union’s top court said in a dispute involving Portuguese carrier TAP SA. “Such a death, whilst tragic, does not amount to an extraordinary circumstance,” warranting an exemption, the EU Court of Justice said in a binding ruling on Thursday. Instead, it is “like any unexpected illness which may affect a crew member whose presence is essential, inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the airline.” EU judges have been inundated with cases seeking clarity about when passengers can claim compensation since a landmark judgment in 2009 saying that delays must be at least three hours long to qualify for compensation claims. The court has since been asked about a multitude of situations and whether they’re extraordinary enough to exempt airlines from any liabilities. Bad weather, a plane striking a bird or even a passenger biting someone on the plane are extraordinary enough, while “wildcat strikes” by staff that cause long delays aren’t, the court has ruled over the past decade. In the latest dispute, several passengers sought compensation after their TAP flight from Stuttgart, Germany to Lisbon, Portugal was canceled. The carrier claimed “extraordinary circumstances” due to the sudden death of the co-pilot just two hours before the planned flight, a father in his early 40s, which “came as a severe shock to everyone and was completely unforeseeable,” court documents show. Given the flight was scheduled to depart from outside TAP’s usual base, there was no immediate replacement staff and everyone had to wait for a fresh crew to be flown in, meaning passengers left for their final destination more than 10 hours later than planned.<br/>