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Business trip delayed: can your employer claim your compensation?

Your employer paid for the ticket, but UK261/EU261 compensation belongs to the passenger. What your employer can claim, what your contract may say, how to claim.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: fixed compensation under UK261 and EU261 – £220 / £350 / £520 or €250 / €400 / €600 – is a right of the passenger, not of whoever paid for the ticket. If you were delayed 3 hours or more on a business trip for reasons within the airline’s control, you can claim it in your own name. Your employer is in a different position: it may have its own claim for the costs it incurred because of the delay, and the Court of Justice has confirmed that an employer can claim such damages under the Montreal Convention. Whether you must hand your compensation over to your employer is a question of your employment contract or travel policy, not of the regulation.

Corporate travellers are among the most frequent flyers, and the question “who keeps the money?” comes up often. Here is how the rules divide it.

The compensation belongs to the passenger

Article 7 of Regulation 261/2004 says passengers shall receive compensation. The regulation applies to passengers with a confirmed reservation on a covered flight (Article 3); it says nothing about the person who paid. MoneySavingExpert’s guide puts it simply: the passenger is entitled, not the person who paid for the ticket.

That means:

  • you can claim in your own name, using your own bank details;
  • the airline should not refuse because the ticket was bought by a company or a travel management company (TMC);
  • the amount is fixed per passenger and does not depend on the fare, so a cheap advance ticket and a flexible business-class fare on the same delayed flight give the same compensation (for business class there may also be downgrade rights if you were moved to a lower cabin).

Article 15 also prevents airlines from limiting or waiving these obligations through clauses in the contract of carriage – including, for example, corporate fare conditions.

What your employer can claim: its own losses

A delayed employee can cost an employer money: extra hotel nights, rebooked meetings, overtime, extra subsistence. Those are the employer’s losses, and they are not covered by the fixed compensation scheme.

The Court of Justice of the EU looked at this in Air Baltic Corporation (C-429/14, judgment of 17 February 2016). Two officers of Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service flew Vilnius–Riga–Moscow–Baku on a business trip booked by their employer. A late arrival made them miss a connection, and they reached Baku the next day. The employer had to pay additional travel costs and related contributions under Lithuanian law, and claimed them from Air Baltic. The Court held that, under the Montreal Convention, an airline that has concluded a contract of carriage with an employer is liable to that employer for damage caused by delay to its employees as passengers. It also held that the employer’s claim is capped: it cannot exceed the total compensation the passengers themselves could have obtained under the Convention’s limits.

What the ruling means in practice:

  • the employer’s route is the Montreal Convention (damages for proven loss), not the fixed £/€ amounts;
  • the employer must prove its loss and the delay, and the airline can defend itself by showing it took all reasonable measures;
  • the ruling concerned the Montreal Convention, not the fixed compensation of Regulation 261/2004, and we are not aware of any ruling that transfers the passenger’s fixed compensation to the employer.

What your contract or travel policy may say

Some employers’ travel or expenses policies address airline compensation – for example by asking employees to declare it, to claim it and pass it on, or confirming that employees may keep it. The regulation does not decide this; your employment terms do. Practical points:

  • Read your travel policy before you claim, and ask HR or the travel manager if it is unclear.
  • If the policy says compensation goes to the company, you may be asked to claim in your name and then pay it over, or to authorise the company or its TMC to claim for you.
  • If there is no policy, the starting point under the regulation is that the right is yours. Telling your manager is still sensible, particularly if the employer also wants to claim its own costs.
  • Avoid double counting. If your employer reimbursed you for hotel or meals during the delay, those costs belong to the employer; your own claim against the airline should cover the fixed compensation and anything you paid personally.

Tax treatment is a separate question; see our explainer on whether flight delay compensation is taxable.

Booked through a travel management company

Business bookings usually go through a TMC or a corporate booking tool. For your rights:

  • Care, re-routing and compensation still come from the operating airline, not the TMC (booked through a travel agent).
  • Refunds of cancelled tickets normally go back to whoever paid – the company account or card – usually via the TMC.
  • Cancellation notice: if the airline told the TMC but nobody told you, the Court of Justice ruled in Krijgsman (C-302/16) that the airline must prove the passenger was informed in time.

How to claim as a business traveller

  1. Collect evidence on the day: boarding pass, booking reference (ask the TMC for the airline’s own reference), notifications and the actual arrival time.
  2. Check eligibility: arrival 3 hours or more late, or a cancellation with under 14 days’ notice, and no extraordinary circumstances. Our checker gives a first answer.
  3. Claim from the operating airline in your name. Use our complaint letter generator if the airline has no form.
  4. Keep your employer informed if your policy requires it.
  5. Escalate if refused: see claim rejected – what next.

Frequent flyers: is an agency worth it?

If you travel often for work, the time spent chasing airlines adds up. A claims agency takes over the process for a share of the compensation; our comparison of claiming yourself versus using an agency and our AirHelp review explain the costs. Whatever route you choose, the time limit is the same: 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 5 years in Scotland, and national rules elsewhere (time limits by country).

Sources

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