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This is how airlines avoid compensation payments: a canceled flight simply becomes a delay.
You can twist and turn it however you want: As a consumer in Switzerland, you have little chance of getting compensation if a flight takes off after a long delay.
This applies to cancellations: Switzerland adopted the EU regulation on air passenger rights in 2006. This clearly states: If a flight is canceled, passengers are entitled to compensation unless there are exceptional circumstances. These include, for example, bird strikes, terrorist threats or even a medical emergency. For long-haul flights, the compensation is 600 euros per passenger.
This is the situation with delays: It’s different with delays. The Air Passenger Rights Ordinance there does not provide for any compensation. However: According to rulings by the European Court of Justice, long delays are to be treated in the same way as cancellations with regard to compensation payments. This means that passengers in the EU are clearly better off than in Switzerland. There is neither a legal basis nor a federal court ruling on this. There is legal uncertainty. This means: The Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA cannot oblige the airlines to pay compensation in the event of a long delay.
Who is patting the airlines? One question seems to be central: Who defines whether a flight was canceled or delayed? If a passenger gets stuck with their claim for compensation from the airline, the FOCA is the next point of contact. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation is the enforcement body for air passenger rights in Switzerland.
If a passenger submits a report to the FOCA, the latter must review the case. It checks whether there was actually a delay. However: The decision-making authority lies with the airline. There are already criteria for checking whether a delay is really a delay. But basically the airline decides whether a flight was canceled or could only continue with a delay.
Conclusion: To put it bluntly, with a simple trick – declaring it a delay – the airlines can get away with paying no compensation. In order to change this, a legal basis would be needed. Actually, the EU regulation on air passenger rights should have been revised long ago. But it has been stalling for years. Another way to provide clarity regarding delays would be a federal court ruling. The airlines try to prevent this as much as possible. Specifically, this means: Before a legally binding judgment is reached, the airlines prefer to pay compensation.