Thousands could make claims after BA flight delay ruling

Thousands could make claims after BA flight delay ruling1 day ago By Katy Austin , @KatyAustinNews, Transport correspondent ShareGetty Images The judgement against British Airways could affect thousands of airline compensation claims annuallyThe Supreme Court has ruled a flight being cancelled because of a pilot becoming ill before work did not count as an "extraordinary circumstance", meaning passengers were entitled to compensation. It said the decision "has the potential to affect tens of thousands of claims which are made annually" under the relevant law. Kenneth and Linda Lipton took BA

Cityflyer, an arm of British Airways, to court after their claim was rejected. Five Supreme Court judges dismissed the airline\'s appeal against an earlier Court of Appeal ruling.The Liptons, from Kent, were due to fly from Milan Linate Airport in Italy to London City Airport in January 2018. The pilot didn\'t show up for work because they were unwell. A replacement couldn\'t be found. The couple were rebooked onto another flight, which got them to London just over 2.5 hours later than scheduled. They claimed the equivalent of about £220 in compensation for this delay, under EU regulations. Airlines have a defence if they can show that a cancellation happened because of unavoidable extraordinary circumstances. Cityflyer turned down the claim, arguing that the pilot falling ill was such a situation. Two courts agreed, but the Court of Appeal ruled in the Liptons\' favour.\'A victory for common sense\'