Extraordinary Circumstances: When Airlines Don't Have to Pay (And When They Do)
Airlines reject thousands of valid claims by citing extraordinary circumstances. Here is what genuinely counts, what doesn't, and how to challenge a wrongful rejection.
"Your claim has been rejected due to extraordinary circumstances." If you've claimed flight compensation before, you may have received this exact sentence. It is the single most common reason airlines give for refusing to pay, and it is very often wrong.
What the law actually says
Under UK261 and EU261, airlines are excused from paying compensation only when a disruption was caused by circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The airline must prove this, not just assert it. The burden of proof is on them.
What genuinely counts as extraordinary
- Severe weather that makes it genuinely unsafe to operate (not just rain, and not weather other airlines flew through)
- Air traffic control restrictions or strikes by third parties
- Political instability or security threats
- Bird strikes (though with limits, see below)
- Hidden manufacturing defects discovered fleet-wide for the first time
- Airport closures outside the airline's control
What does NOT count (despite what rejection letters say)
- Technical faults. The courts have ruled repeatedly that routine mechanical problems are part of running an airline. This is the most misused excuse in the industry.
- Strikes by the airline's own staff. A strike by the airline's own pilots or cabin crew is within the airline's sphere of control.
- Crew shortages or sickness. Rostering enough staff is the airline's job.
- The aircraft arriving late from a previous flight (known as "knock-on delay"), unless the original cause was itself extraordinary and the airline took all reasonable measures afterwards.
- Commercial decisions such as consolidating two half-empty flights.
Even genuine extraordinary circumstances have limits
The airline must still show it took all reasonable measures to avoid the disruption. In one landmark case involving a bird strike, the Court of Justice ruled the airline still had to pay because the aircraft could have been inspected and returned to service in time, and the airline's own slow process caused the delay. Extraordinary event or not, the airline's response is always assessable.
How airlines misuse this defence
- Citing "weather" for a delay when the same route operated normally for other carriers
- Labelling routine maintenance issues as unforeseeable technical problems
- Providing no evidence at all and hoping you don't ask for it
How to challenge a rejection
- Ask for evidence. Request the specific cause of the disruption in writing. Vague answers are a red flag.
- Check what actually happened. Flight tracking data often shows the aircraft's previous rotation was late, pointing to a knock-on delay rather than weather.
- Escalate. Take the claim to the airline's ADR scheme (CEDR or Aviation ADR), which reviews the airline's evidence independently.
Or let us do it. Klaimly investigates the real cause of your disruption using flight data, challenges bogus extraordinary circumstances claims, and escalates when airlines don't cooperate. Flat 5% fee, only if we win.