Air France Flight Delay Compensation: Passengers Rights

Who likes to wait at the airport for their delayed flight? But the more important question is, what is the airline doing to compensate you for your lost time and inconvenience? This is your guidebook on how Air France meeds your expenses and disruption when you do not reach your desired destination on the scheduled time. 

As a customer, you have the right to hold the airline responsible for an extended delay beyond a certain point. The airline is liable to provide you with non-monetary redressals, at least, if not the complete repayment of your ticket fare. Skim over the following blog to learn about Air France Flight Delay Compensation.

Reasons for Late Arriving Flights

Nothing is as disheartening as receiving a notification that the airline delayed your flight when you reached the airport. Travelling is already stressful enough, and waiting a few more hours can really sulk up your mood. However, it is your right to know the cause of your flight cancellation, and if the authorities know, they must inform the customers about it. Here are a few reasons you may have to twiddle your thumbs waiting for the plane to depart. 

• Uncontrollable Causes:

Severe weather situations, Unforeseen political fluctuation, accidents at the airport, ATC red flags, or third-party-prompted strikes. 

• Controllable Causes:

Aircraft maintenance, crew shortage, cabin cleaning, baggage loading issues, and fueling. 

NOTE: An airline is only responsible for granting you compensation if the flight delay occurred due to controllable reasons. 

Conditions to Claim Delay Compensation

Before knocking on the authorities’ doors for compensation and reimbursement for your inconvenience, ensure your eligibility. European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have strict Passenger rights regulation 261/2004 for customers who suffer delays from the Airline’s end. Air France abides by these rules when there is a lag in their scheduled flight. 

• You must hold the required documents to claim your confirmed reservation for the concerned flight. 
• You have completed your check-in on the tickets within the stipulated time. If there is no specific deadline, the check-in time is 45 minutes before the scheduled departure. 
• Rights are entitled to those traveling on the public fare and under the frequent flyer program.
• When you are flying on a plane departing from within the European Union (EU). 
• If your flight takes off from outside the EU but is on an EU air carrier and lands at a location in the EU, then you are also eligible for delay compensation rights. (Except if there are any local regulations for planes departing from non-EU countries.)

Air France Delayed Flight Compensation

All customers must look at the following facilities Air France offers as compensation for two-hour delays, all free of charge.

• Refreshments and Meals– Proportionally adequate according to the waiting time. 
• Lounging—If you have to wait for an overnight duration, the airline should provide you with hotel accommodation (Other than the one you already intended and booked for before the delay notification).
• Transport Facility—Air France shall also ensure you get a vehicle that transports you back and forth from the hotel to the airport.  
• A  fax, an e-mail prepaid phone call service, or monetary compensation that equals the cost of two telephonic calls (5 minutes each). 

Other than this, if Air France delays your flight for a period longer than five hours, you get the option to cancel the flight and retrieve a complete refund for the part and parts of the itinerary you did not travel. 

Furthermore, if the part of the itinerary did not serve its purpose, you have two options: 

• Either to request a return flight back to the initial point of departure as mentioned on the tickets or
• If you want a refund for the part already traveled. 

Process of Requesting Delay Compensation

Before you proceed to delay compensation, ensure you are eligible and that the cause of the late arrival was avoidable and under the airline’s control. Secondly, you must request reimbursement from the air carrier that originally served the itinerary. This means you should reach out to Air France only if the airline is carrying out that part of the itinerary. 

You have the right to request reimbursement for the part or part of the journey that you did not fly for or that is no longer useful for the purpose you were flying for. Considering these conditions, here are the steps to request compensation for a flight delay of at least 5 hours:

1. You may check the official website of Air France- https://wwws.airfrance.us/.  
2. Then, proceed to the ‘Contact Us’ section at the bottom of the page. 
3. Select the ‘Delayed and Canceled Flights’ tab.
4. Then, you may click on the ‘I would like to request compensation due to a delayed or canceled flight’ option.
5. The ‘Request compensation’ click will redirect you to a ‘claim’ section. 
6. You can fill out the following details in the form:

• Booking reference
• First name
• Last name

7. Search for your specific booking and submit the request form. 
8. The agents will get to you as soon as possible. 

You may contact the Air France Customer Care Office via email- contact.en.us@airfrance.fr. 

Amount of Reimbursement

If you experience a flight delay of more than 3 hours, the airline is responsible for delivering you with the following monetary returns. However, you must ensure the cause of the delay was controllable and not an extraordinary unforeseen situation. If the delay occurred because of an uncontrollable circumstance, the airline would not be liable to deliver any sort of compensation to the passengers. 

Passengers have two choices– either a non-refundable transport credit voucher or a cash compensation. 

Non-Refundable Transportation Credit

The customer who went through the inconvenience of a late flight can request reimbursement based on the length and area of their journey. Air France grants flight credits that you can use for future flights. 

• For Flights up to 1500 km- €350
• For flights of more than 1500 km (Within the European Union)- €500
• For flights between 1500- 3500 km- €500
• For all Flight delays beyond 4 hours that do not fall under any of the conditions specified above- €800

Compensation amounts (cash)

If you do not want a future flight credit, you can simply ask for an immediate cash return for your troubles. 

• For Flights up to 1500 km- €250
• For flights of more than 1500 km (Within the European Union)- €400
• For flights between 1500- 3500 km- €400
• For all Flight delays beyond 4 hours that do not fall under any of the conditions specified above- €600

If your flight (traveling for a distance of 3500 km or more) lands three to four hours after the scheduled arrival time, the airline can reduce the compensation amount by 50%.The local rules may apply when the flight departs from a non-EU country, causing compensation schemes to differ.  

Tips and Tricks you should know about!

Whether you are traveling for business/work, leisure, or a family/ friend’s trip, you have the option to get redressal for the inconvenience. All you need is to be aware of your rights, airline regulations, and your eligibility. You must be patient and request compensation by getting in touch with the Customer Care staff using the method offered above. Reaching out to the Air France representatives at the airport is not going to solve your problem. 

Passenger Queries!

Get to Know: Air France Ticket Office in New York