The departure board flickers. DELAYED. No reason, no estimated new time, just a single word that restructures your next several hours in ways that ripple into meetings, connections, and plans that took months to arrange. Most passengers accept this as an unavoidable feature of air travel. Many of them are owed money and don't know it.
Why Flights Are Actually Delayed
Understanding the cause of your delay matters legally, not just intellectually. Airlines distinguish between delays within their control and delays caused by 'extraordinary circumstances' — a category that significantly affects your compensation eligibility.
Air Traffic Control Restrictions: The majority of significant departure delays, particularly in summer across European airspace, originate with ATC restrictions — slot management, ground holds, and en-route flow control imposed by national air navigation services. These are typically classified as extraordinary circumstances and generally exempt airlines from compensation obligations.
Weather: Severe weather — storms, low visibility, ice — is outside the airline's control and typically constitutes extraordinary circumstances. Moderate weather that other carriers handle without cancellation is a grey area courts have adjudicated inconsistently.
Technical Issues: This is where airlines most commonly fail passengers and where compensation is most clearly owed. A technical fault discovered at the gate is within the airline's operational sphere. Aircraft maintenance is a foreseeable cost of running an airline, and courts have consistently held that routine technical problems do not constitute extraordinary circumstances. If your flight was delayed or cancelled due to a technical issue, pursue compensation.
Crew Issues: Crew being out of hours, late arriving from a preceding flight, or unavailable due to operational scheduling problems is firmly within airline control and fully subject to compensation obligations.
EC Regulation 261/2004: Your Key Rights
EC 261 is the most passenger-friendly aviation regulation in the world and applies to all flights departing from an EU airport, and flights arriving into the EU on an EU-based carrier. Post-Brexit, the UK maintains its own equivalent — UK261 — with identical compensation levels.
For delays of 3 or more hours at arrival caused by factors within the airline's control, you are entitled to fixed compensation: €250 for flights under 1,500km; €400 for intra-EU flights over 1,500km or international flights between 1,500–3,500km; and €600 for all other international flights. These are per-passenger amounts, paid regardless of the ticket price you originally paid.
Separately — and regardless of compensation eligibility — airlines are obligated to provide care during significant delays: meals and refreshments proportionate to the waiting time, and hotel accommodation with transport if an overnight stay becomes necessary. If the airline doesn't offer this proactively, purchase what you reasonably need and keep receipts; you can claim reimbursement.
How to Make a Claim
Start directly. File a written compensation claim with the airline, citing EC 261 or UK261 by name and specifying your delay duration, arrival time, and the amount you're claiming. Airlines are required to respond. Many will reject valid claims on first contact, banking on the assumption that passengers won't escalate.
If they reject your valid claim, escalate to the relevant National Enforcement Body — the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK, or the equivalent authority in the EU country of your departure. These bodies can compel airlines to pay and do so regularly.
If you prefer a hands-off approach, no-win-no-fee services like AirHelp, ClaimCompass, or Flightright manage the entire process in exchange for a percentage of the settlement — typically 25–35%. You receive less of your entitlement, but zero effort is required. For small delays, the maths favours doing it yourself. For high-value claims on long-haul routes, the tradeoff is more personal.
The Six-Year Window
In the UK and most EU countries, you can claim compensation for delays dating back six years. If you suffered a significant delay in the past and never pursued it, it may not be too late. Check old boarding passes, email confirmations, or booking records. The statute of limitations on flight compensation claims is one of the most underutilized protections available to passengers.