Jack the dog was supposed to fly from Palermo, Italy, to Lampedusa Island on the 14th of January 2020. But due to technical issues, the plane couldn't take flight.
By , 20 Feb 2020
Jack's owners were reimbursed 250 euros each, however, their dog's ticket, which cost 27 euros, was not reimbursed. The owners are now demanding compensation from the airline.
Why not?
European law EU261 states that any cancelled flight under 1500 km must be compensated for. However, the law does not detail whether passengers of the flight must necessarily be human. So technically, Jack's owners' demand for compensation is, though surprising, legal. Their argument in claiming compensation? Jack faced the same inconveniences as they did when they weren't able to travel, so he should be compensated just the same too.
Angry airline
The claim was not well received by Danish Air Transport Director General Montserrat Barriga, who posted quite an angry tweet to her page:
Jack is the first dog to have claimed air passenger compensation pleading EU261. It’s not a joke. It has happened recently on a DAT flight 14/1 PMO to PNL. You may say it is an anecdote. It is not, it is another proof of the greed of some in detriment of the work of the airlines pic.twitter.com/moxNPZ8lDl
— Montserrat Barriga ERA (@BarrigaEra) January 31, 2020
For now, Jack's owners are still awaiting an official response to their claim. Whatever happens next, one thing is for sure: the airline will definitely be clearing up any grey areas when it comes to pets’ ticket compensation.
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