Lufthansa Class Action Says Passengers Owed for Cancelled Flights

A Missouri woman says Lufthansa fails to compensate passengers for cancelled flights despite terms provided in the airline’s own contract.

Plaintiff Bibi Franceschelli says Deutsche Lufthansa AG is obligated under certain circumstances to pay compensation to passengers whose flights are cancelled or delayed.

European Union regulations have mandated such compensation for more than 10 years, she says, and Lufthansa’s own contract with its passengers incorporates those regulations.

But despite having written that provision into its own contract, Lufthansa fails to compensate passengers as required, Franceschelli claims.

This Lufthansa class action lawsuit seeks to enforce the compensation provisions of European Union Regulation 261, which Lufthansa incorporates into its own General Conditions of Carriage.

Regulation 261 entitles passengers with confirmed reservations to be paid a set compensation when their flight is cancelled or delayed for three hours or more and not under extraordinary circumstances, according to Franceschelli. It applies to flights that originate within the territories of EU states and to flights operated by EU-licensed carriers with destinations inside the EU.

The plaintiff says that Regulation 261 provides for standardized compensation in addition to any individualized compensation available based on case-by-case proof under other laws.

Airlines can avoid having to pay compensation if they make the cancellations far enough in advance or if they make a timely offer of rerouting. Lufthansa failed to do either in Franceschelli’s case, she claims.

Lufthansa’s own General Conditions of Carriage incorporate EU Regulation 261, the plaintiff says. The contract also sets out the specific amounts of compensation that apply, depending on the flight’s distance to destination, the length of the delay, and whether the flights are inside or outside the European Union.

According to Franceschelli, Lufthansa cancelled a March 2015 flight from St. Louis to Florence, Italy, a flight for which she and her family had confirmed reservations. There were no extraordinary circumstances that would justify the cancellation, she says.

Franceschelli claims she and her family were not able to depart for Florence until three days later. She says Lufthansa did not offer them any alternative flight that would have gotten them to Florence within the time constraints imposed by Regulation 261. And importantly, Lufthansa did not offer her any compensation for the cancellation, she claims.

Franceschelli filed this Lufthansa class action lawsuit in November 2016 in Missouri state court. Lufthansa has since removed the action to federal court.

Franceschelli seeks to represent a plaintiff Class defined as all U.S. residents who had confirmed reservations on Lufthansa flights scheduled to arrive on or after Mar. 20, 2005 but whose flights were cancelled under circumstances that could implicate the compensation provisions of Regulation 261.

She seeks an award of damages, equitable relief, court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Franceschelli is represented by attorneys Martin L. Daesch and Jesse B. Rochman of The Onder Law Firm.

The Lufthansa Flight Cancellation Class Action Lawsuit is Bibi Franceschelli v. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Case No. 4:16-cv-02100, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.