3.5 The Airport Journey, Irregular Operations & Passenger Rights

The End-to-End Airport Journey

The consultant sells the journey, but the client experiences the process. Learn it as a sequence:

1. Check-in - web or app, typically opening 24 to 48 hours before departure, then kiosk or counter. All three write into the DCS (Departure Control System), which performs acceptance, seat assignment, weight and balance, boarding-pass issue and transmission of advance passenger data.
2. Bag drop - the tag is issued and the Baggage Source Message goes to the baggage handling system.
3. Security screening - person and cabin baggage, under the state's rules, not the airline's.
4. Outbound immigration or emigration - exit formalities where the state operates them; in the Schengen external border the Entry/Exit System (EES), which began on 12 October 2025 and is fully operational from 10 April 2026, records biometrics.
5. Airside - retail, lounges, gate assignment.
6. Boarding gate - boarding normally starts 30 to 45 minutes before departure, in sequence: pre-boarding for passengers needing assistance, unaccompanied minors and families with infants; then premium cabins and elite tiers; then zones, often window-middle-aisle or back-to-front.
7. Transfer or transit - passengers connecting airside, subject to minimum connecting times covered in section 6.3.
8. Arrival immigration - entry control, biometric or stamped.
9. Baggage reclaim - and, if needed, the baggage service office.
10. Customs - green or red channel, or a single channel with random inspection.

Cut-Off Times That Decide Everything

These are typical figures, not IATA-mandated ones - every carrier publishes its own. The exam-relevant consequence is legal, not operational: a passenger who misses the published check-in deadline forfeits denied-boarding and delay entitlements under both US and EU rules, because presenting on time is a condition of the claim.

Irregular Operations

IROPS (irregular operations) covers any deviation from the published plan:

• Delay - departure or arrival later than scheduled.
• Cancellation - the flight does not operate at all, or operates so differently that it is legally a new flight.
• Misconnection - the inbound arrives too late to make the published connection, so the passenger must be re-accommodated or "protected".
• Diversion - the flight lands somewhere other than the ticketed destination.

The single most consequential classification is cause:

A manufacturing defect discovered during routine maintenance has generally been treated by European courts as within the carrier's control, which is why "technical problem" is rarely an escape route.

Involuntary Rerouting and the FIM

When the carrier itself causes the disruption, the passenger is moved without paying more. Under IATA Resolution 735d (involuntary change of carrier, routing, class or fare type at origin) and 735e (change of routing en route, including diversions):

• The original operating carrier is responsible for obtaining inventory on the new operating carrier.
• The reissued document carries the characters INVOL in the first five characters of the endorsements/restrictions box; no additional collection is made from the passenger.
• Where the passenger still holds usable flight coupons, they are simply endorsed over and accepted - a FIM must not be issued.
• Where the coupon cannot be transferred, a FIM (Flight Interruption Manifest) is issued as a substitute coupon naming the original and new routing and ticket numbers. The receiving carrier then bills the forwarding carrier, settled through interline proration arrangements.

EU Regulation 261/2004

EU261 applies to flights departing any EU airport on any carrier, and to flights arriving in the EU on an EU carrier. It covers denied boarding, cancellation and long delay. Three distinct rights must never be blurred together:

1. Compensation - a fixed lump sum, payable only when the cause was within the carrier's control:

The delay trigger is three hours or more on arrival at the final destination, not departure delay. For cancellations, compensation is not due if notice was given 14 days or more in advance, or if shorter notice was paired with rerouting inside defined time windows.

2. Right to care - meals and refreshments proportionate to the wait, two free communications, and hotel accommodation plus transfers where an overnight stay is required. Care is owed regardless of cause.

3. Right to reimbursement or rerouting - the passenger chooses between a refund within seven days of the unused portion, or rerouting at the earliest opportunity or on a later date of their choosing. Article 10 additionally repays 30, 50 or 75 percent of the segment price for an involuntary downgrade.

A political agreement to reform EU261 was reached in 2026, with entry into force expected after a transition period; until it takes effect the rules above are the ones that apply, so answer exam questions on the current text.

UK261 is the retained post-Brexit mirror, created by the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The structure is identical, with sums redenominated as GBP 220, GBP 350 and GBP 520, applying to departures from the UK on any carrier and arrivals into the UK on a UK or EU carrier.

United States: DOT Denied Boarding Compensation

The US has no delay-compensation regime, only oversales rules. Volunteers negotiate freely and are unregulated; involuntarily bumped passengers get a written statement of rights plus:

Payment is due in cash or cheque, normally on the day, and the passenger must have met the carrier's check-in deadline. Separately, US rules now require automatic refunds when a flight is cancelled or significantly changed and the passenger declines the alternative.

Montreal Convention 1999 for Delay and Injury

MC99 pays proven actual loss up to a cap, not a lump sum. For delay in the carriage of passengers the limit is 6,303 SDR, and the carrier escapes liability if it proves it took all reasonably required measures. For death or bodily injury the carrier is strictly liable up to 151,880 SDR with no defence, and above that limit is liable unless it proves it was not negligent. Claims must be brought within two years. Both figures took effect on 28 December 2024 and are reviewed roughly every five years.

Frequent Flyer Programmes

Accrual is either distance-based with fare-class earning percentages - a deep discount economy booking class may earn only 25 to 50 percent of flown miles - or revenue-based, where miles follow the fare paid. Elite tiers are reached on qualifying miles, segments or spend and unlock priority check-in, extra baggage, lounge access and upgrade eligibility, which alliance partners reciprocate. Redemption is offered at fixed saver levels or at dynamic prices, with taxes and carrier surcharges usually payable in cash.

The agent's practical duty is to record the membership in the PNR as a frequent-flyer element - FQTV - with the correct carrier code and number, ensuring the profile name matches the ticketed name, otherwise the miles do not post and a retro-credit claim is needed later.

Exam Traps

• Extraordinary circumstances kill only the compensation. Weather, ATC closure or a third-party strike removes the EUR 250/400/600 payment, but the airline still owes meals, communications, hotel and the choice between refund and rerouting.
• Compensation is not reimbursement. Compensation is a fixed penalty for the disruption; reimbursement is the return of the fare paid. A passenger can be entitled to both, or to reimbursement alone.
• The three-hour test is measured on arrival, at the final destination on the ticket, not on departure from the gate.
• The amount follows distance, not the fare paid - a EUR 39 promotional ticket and a full-flex ticket on the same sector attract the same sum.