Airlines Reluctantly Adapt to Reimbursing Travelers for Flight Disruptions
Skift Take
TUI Fly says it's the first airline to work with tech vendors to automate and standardize the process of flight disruption claims. Larger carriers, take note: You also need to reduce your enormous backlogs of consumer claims, whether you build tech in-house or find a vendor.
European airlines are bowing to consumer demands for faster compensation due to flight disruption.
Traveler demands have gained force thanks to recent court rulings, plus the rise of several compensation claims companies.
In five recent legal proceedings, Ryanair paid damages to passengers for delayed and canceled flights due to last year's labor strikes, according to testimony revealed in a German court last month. The Dublin-based budget carrier had previously insisted it would fight the claims related to strikes.
Ryanair joins Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, and other carriers that face large backlogs in claims due to labor-related, weather-related, and mechanical delays in the past few years. Airlines have tended to be slow in responding to claims, taking more than two years to respond in some cases.
Europe is a
