Biden wants airlines to pay passengers for delays. In Europe, they already do

Rotten luck seems to follow Mattia Zenere, 31, on his travels lately. Over the past five years, four of his flights have involved long delays or cancellations, including one misadventure — on a trip from London to Venice, Italy — that caused him to arrive a full day late. But there’s a silver lining: Thanks to Europe’s robust consumer protection rules for airlines, in each case, the customer service professional was refunded his out-of-pocket expenses. Mr. Zenere also received an additional hardship payout from the airline for three of the disruptions. “The law really works,” he said. For fed-up air travelers in the US, similar protections could be on the horizon — and the airlines aren’t happy about it. This week, President Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, announced plans to introduce new rules this year that would require airlines to pay up for travel disruptions they cause. Following waves of pandemic-era flight interruptions and the fiasco that forced Southwest Airlines to cancel 16,700 flights around the winter holidays, Biden is betting that Americans will want the kind of protections Europeans (and non-Europeans who fly in Europe) have enjoyed for nearly 20 years. The EU law is popular — and generous. A flight delayed by more than three hours is considered canceled, and the passenger is entitled to between E250 and E600 in compensation. The payout is determined by flight distance, not ticket price, which airlines have long protested. Airlines can contest payments by arguing a disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances such as bad weather, a strike action by air traffic controllers or “an out of the ordinary” technical issue with the plane. But European courts continue to narrow the definition of “extraordinary.” <br/>