AA TLV-MIA on 2/1 diversion

[yochai]

I had a client on the Wednesday night flight from TLV to MIA. A few hours in they announced that one of the flight attendants had a medical issue and they landed in MAD (some passengers claimed the FA appeared intoxicated before takeoff…). Passengers were put up in hotels and offered food vouchers, but ended up arriving over 20 hours late to MIA (my client who had a connecting flight ended up getting home 24 hours late).
I’m waiting to have a longer conversation with her to get more details, but was wondering if anyone here had any more info, or knows if passengers are eligible for compensation.
Update: On flight stats it appears they landed in MAD after 3 AM and were originally scheduled to depart to MIA at 4 AM, but eventually the flight got cancelled and rescheduled as AA9600 which departed 9:30 PM, arriving MIA at 1:30 AM Friday morning.

[yochai]

I had a client on the Wednesday night flight from TLV to MIA. A few hours in they announced that one of the flight attendants had a medical issue and they landed in MAD (some passengers claimed the FA appeared intoxicated before takeoff…). Passengers were put up in hotels and offered food vouchers, but ended up arriving over 20 hours late to MIA (my client who had a connecting flight ended up getting home 24 hours late).
I’m waiting to have a longer conversation with her to get more details, but was wondering if anyone here had any more info, or knows if passengers are eligible for compensation.
Update: On flight stats it appears they landed in MAD after 3 AM and were originally scheduled to depart to MIA at 4 AM, but eventually the flight got cancelled and rescheduled as AA9600 which departed 9:30 PM, arriving MIA at 1:30 AM Friday morning.

Update 2: I spoke to the passenger who said they initially tried to take off at 4 AM to continue to MIA but the crew timed out so they were put up in the Le Meridian Madrid with their checked bags remaining on board. The hotel ordered Kosher lunches for anyone who had KSMLs on the flight. At 6 PM they were taken by bus back to the airport for the 9:30 PM flight, which arrived MIA at 1:30 AM.
In MIA all connecting passengers were put up in hotels till their alternative flights.
I submitted a compensation request and will report back with their response.

[LongTimeLurker]

Seems pretty straightforward that they are eligible for full compensation under israeli law

[chff]

Code: [Select]

1AADO53/01FEB                                                                   
** AA - AMERICAN AIRLINES **                                                   
AA0053/01FEB                                                                   
 $DTE CHNG FLT$ ORIG 01FEB                                                     
TLV                    2315                                                     
MAD              0315  0400                                                     
MIA $  CD    D37 0608                                                           
4TLV/OUT2310 OFF2327  *1527                                                     
1MAD/   CANCEL MAD -MIA -XOP  *0301                                             
1MIA/LX CANCEL MAD -MIA -XOP-CXLD OPERATIONAL DECISION-E*0301   

[yochai]

Code: [Select]

1AADO53/01FEB                                                                   
** AA - AMERICAN AIRLINES **                                                   
AA0053/01FEB                                                                   
 $DTE CHNG FLT$ ORIG 01FEB                                                     
TLV                    2315                                                     
MAD              0315  0400                                                     
MIA $  CD    D37 0608                                                           
4TLV/OUT2310 OFF2327  *1527                                                     
1MAD/   CANCEL MAD -MIA -XOP  *0301                                             
1MIA/LX CANCEL MAD -MIA -XOP-CXLD OPERATIONAL DECISION-E*0301   

Thanks

[yochai]

Seems pretty straightforward that they are eligible for full compensation under israeli law

February  16, 2023


Hello XXX:

On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting Customer Relations. We appreciate the opportunity to address your claim for compensation based on the Aviation Services Law.

We regret your flight from Tel Aviv on February 1, 2023 was diverted. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience and impact on your travel plans this irregularity caused. It is never our intent to create difficulties for you, or any of our passengers, and appreciate that this disruption was a frustrating experience.

As you have correctly identified, the Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions), 5772 -2012 has established common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellations or long delays of flights. Under this regulation, in the event of a flight cancellation or delay, passengers are entitled to established levels of compensation.

However, this regulation does not apply when a flight is delayed for less than 8 hours departing its origin city or a flight is cancelled or delayed due to something out of our control, like weather or Air Traffic Control issues. Since flight AA53 was diverted and delayed due to a medical situation, American Airlines is not required to provide the compensation you have referred to.

XXX, we value your continued loyalty and look forward to rebuilding your confidence in our service. We hope you'll give us the opportunity to provide you with a more positive experience in the future.



Sincerely,

Jackie Coples
Customer Relations
American Airlines