American Airlines Flight Delay Compensation

How much compensation are you entitled to?

According to EU Regulation 261/2004, the size of your compensation is determined by the length of your flight. If your American Airlines delay occurred on a flight from an EU airport, you could be entitled to compensation worth €600. This means that you could take advantage of EC 261 only for international flights, and not for domestic flights.

As shown in the table below, the compensation amounts vary between €250 and €400. Since all flights between the EU and the US would be over 3,500 km, you could claim American Airlines flight delay compensation of up to €600.

You can claim flight delay compensation from AA under the following conditions:

• You departed from an EU airport
• You reached your final destination with a delay of over 3 hours
• Your delay was not due to extraordinary circumstances

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Extraordinary circumstances are any events that cause a flight disruption, which could not be prevented or mitigated by American Airlines. These may include but are not limited to:

• Bad weather conditions
• Air Traffic Control restrictions
• Bird strikes
• Security risks / Acts of terrorism
• Political or civil unrest
• Air Traffic Control or union strikes
• Medical emergencies
• Hidden technical defects

Please note that technical problems which arise during the course of an aircraft’s normal operations are not considered extraordinary circumstances. It is part of airlines’ responsibilities to ensure that each aircraft is ready to go in accordance with the flight schedule. Therefore, airlines need to monitor and fix any technical issues that may arise. If you arrived late because of a mechanical fault, then you would be eligible for American Airlines delay compensation.

In addition, your flight arrival needs to be delayed by more than three hours. It is important to remember that the duration of a flight delay is determined as the difference between the actual and the scheduled time of arrival. We advise you to note the exact time of landing and take a picture of the info boards at the airport as evidence. You should also keep your boarding pass and any other travel documents.

Finally, as we mentioned in this article’s introduction, there are no laws in place which require American Airlines to pay delayed flight compensation for flights departing from the United States. However, the airline is subject to Flight Compensation Regulation 261/2004 whenever its flights depart from an EU airport.

American Airlines Cancelled Flight Compensation

If your American Airlines flight from the EU is cancelled, you may be eligible for compensation:

• If you were notified of the cancellation between 7 and 14 days prior to departure and your alternate flight arrived more than 4 hours after schedule, or
• If you were informed of the cancellation less than 7 days before the flight and your replacement flight reached its final destination more than 2 hours late.

Is My Flight Eligible?

From our experience, most flight cancellations occur within 24 hours prior to departure. Therefore, you would be entitled to compensation if your alternate flight arrives more than 2 hours after your original flight.

Whenever an American Airlines flight is cancelled, the carrier is required to offer its passengers an alternate flight or a full refund of the ticket price. This right is separate from the right to cancelled flight compensation. 

Keep in mind, however, that AA recently changed their terms concerning refunds and alternate flights. Most notably, the airline will only provide lodging if you “don’t board before 11:59 p.m. local time on your scheduled arrival day.” Make sure you read through their conditions before you request a refund.

Overbooking

You can claim compensation if due to overbooking, you have been denied boarding to an American Airlines flight.

As with compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, the reimbursement amount depends on the flight distance. For EU-US flights, American Airlines would have to pay you €600 in denied boarding compensation.

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American Airlines is the largest airline in the world in terms of fleet, destinations served, revenue and scheduled passengers served. Its headquarters are located in Fort Worth, Texas in the United States.

After its merger with US Airways, its fleet now serves close to 350 destinations in more than 50 countries, spread across five continents.

American’s biggest hubs are Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, DC.

As of 2019, AAdvantage, American Airlines' frequent flyer program has over 67 million members. This makes it the biggest such program in the world. It offers miles, travel benefits, and a no annual fee credit card to the members.

American Airlines’s history begins in the 1920s when over 80 small airlines merge to create what almost a century later will become the world’s largest airline. AA is also one of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance.

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American Airlines Rankings

Skytrax, the leading airline website, has given American Airlines an overall rating of 2/10. This score reflects the quality of the airline’s customer service, inflight entertainment, seat comfort and overall value for money.

According to FlightStats, 22% of all American Airlines flights are delayed. The average delay duration is 60 minutes.