5 Insane-but-True Things About Flight Delays

1. In 2014, flight delays cost airlines 22.3 billion euros. Some sources suggest that delays cause passengers even more money when considering missed connections, meetings, appointments, and personal matters. Unfortunately, this is a difficult number to calculate!
2. Flight delays can be caused by a number of things, the most common of which are ‘airline glitches’ such as “mechanical issues or lack of crew,maintenance, cabin cleaning, loading or refueling”.
3. Flight delays can lead to air rage, a condition that involves impeding upon the flight crew’s duties or otherwise being disruptive to the passengers around them.  In the US, passengers who display air rage can be fined up to 25,000 dollars and may even be sentenced to prison. Consequences of air rage vary by country but this disruption is taken very seriously.
4. In the EU, Flight Compensation Regulation 261/2004 states that any passenger delayed longer than 3 hours has a right to monetary compensation direct from the airline.  A surprising number of people don’t know about this regulation and have missed out on their compensation.  Spread the word and visit our website: ClaimOut.
5. Probably the strangest flight delay in the United States happened on June 15, 2016 at JFK airport in New York. Turtles were all over the runway, and airport workers had to round them all up before flights could land or take off. 

“Anything can be a hazard to aircraft, even turtles.” - Port Authority’s chief wildlife biologist, Laura Francoeur.

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