How is the time of delay calculated?

[masalaairlines]

Was just wondering if anyone knew how the official time of delay is calculated? Was flying on an Easyjet flight from Alicante to Liverpool the other day (see separate thread) which was rediverted to Manchester and arrived there 4 hours late!! The actual arrival time into LPL (on Easyjet organized surface transport) was 80 mins later or 5hrs 20 mins after the scheduled arrival time into LPL.
To me this constitutes a 5 hr 20 min Delay total. Easyjet do not agree, instead they insist it is a 4hr delay! What does anyone else think of this?
By the way, to open another can of worms...Come to think of it... every EazyJet flight I have been on lately has been severely delayed! Even my flight to Alicante was 2hrs late. (Total: 7hrs 20 mins for one weekend!) Then again... maybe I'm just unlucky.

[The SSK]

Airlines measure delay by comparing blocks off/blocks on times with their operating timetable (which may not necessarily be the same as the booklet published six months previously).

In the case of a diversion, there is no benchmark arrival time for the alternative airport so, by definition, no delay can be measured.

[Strepsils]

Delay is when you depart, not when you arrive.

Actual off chocks time - Scheduled time of departure = Delay.

[The SSK]

Delay is when you depart, not when you arrive.

Airlines routinely measure departure and arrival delay. They tend to concentrate on departure delay because it is easier to assign delay to a particular reason or set of reasons, for which there is an industry standard procedure. There is no industry standard for apportioning en-route delay although there have been many attempts to develop one.

Hence, if an aircraft leaves an hour late, the airline will have data on the reason or reasons for it. If it subsequently arrives 90 minutes late, they will not have any way of knowing where the extra delay came from, even though that would be very useful information to have.

[Globaliser]

Was just wondering if anyone knew how the official time of delay is calculated?Why are you needing to know? If it's to try to claim EU compensation, then the time that you need is the one that the Regulation specifies as being the trigger time, which is (IIRC) related to arrival. Post again if this is what you're interested in, and we can have a look at the technical provision in the Regulation.

[masalaairlines]

Thanks Globaliser.

Yes, it is related to a potential compensation claim. I am aware that when the 5hr margin departure has been crossed, this would technically be the point when one can chose not to fly, get a full refund and it is still the airlines responsibilty to get you home (where relevant). I haven't read through EC 261/2004 enough to realise what happens when the arrival is later than 5 hours.

In any case, I am of the firm belief that the airline in question should at least acknowledge the correct delay (especially as they did not give out refreshment vouchers whilst on the ground or allow us access to our 2 free calls, which in themselves could be a direct contravention of the EU directive!)

[The SSK]

Since your location is the UK, I assume you were returning home rather than make an outbound journey. The delay/refund provision applies when the passenger decides that the journey no longer serves any purpose, and therefore abandons his entire trip. It does not apply to journeys half completed.

[Globaliser]

I haven't read through EC 261/2004 enough to realise what happens when the arrival is later than 5 hours.Well, it's always worth reading the actual regulation. I think that'll make clear what is triggered by certain lengths of anticipated departure delay and what is triggered by certain lengths of actual arrival delay.

[Rwy in Sight]

In the same spirit
which is the limit that a delay becomes a cancelation? Last summer my deparature from ATH to CDG was changed from 9:50 to 18:50. Does it constitute a delay or can I ask to fly another day?
I don't know how pathetic it is but I sent that question by email to the corresponding Dept. of the European Commission last June and I am still waiting for an answer....



Rwy in Sight

[Globaliser]

which is the limit that a delay becomes a cancelation?I think that this is one of the most controversial things about the Regulation. There's no provision for this. Some flights have been reportedly "delayed" for days, but yet not cancelled, since the Regulation came into force. But only those in the industry will know whether that has been a change of practice since that time, or because of the Regulation.