Airline Complaint Letter

This Airline Complaint Letter can be used in any case when a passenger would like to send a letter to an airline about a bad experience. This letter covers three major situations that often happen when passengers are flying commercially: when a flight has been delayed, when a flight has been canceled, or when a passenger has been bumped from a flight, voluntarily or involuntarily.

The United States has specific rules about compensation that must be provided to passengers who are involuntarily bumped from a flight. These rules apply to domestic trips, within the United States. They also apply to trips that leave from a point within the United States to a foreign country. They do not, however, apply to trips fully outside the United States, such as trips between two foreign locations.

The European Union (EU) also has specific rules about compensation that must be provided to passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled. These rules apply to flights within the EU. It is not necessary to be a citizen of the EU to take advantage of these flight rules. Instead, one must have been a scheduled and booked passenger on a delayed or canceled flight within certain guidelines.

This letter will ask a series of questions to determine the correct applicable situation. If neither set of compensatory laws is applicable, the letter will still give the passenger a space to address concerns with the airline about their experience and request help fixing the problem.

How to use this document

This document should be filled out by the passenger or someone representing the passenger. It will first determine what type of situation the passenger faced, then help the form-filler with all the details needed for compensation, if applicable.

For EU claims, this letter can be used for a single claim or a family claim, or where a single person has been nominated to bring a claim on behalf of a group. It will also set out all the information required to make a successful claim and calculate the correct level of compensation based on whether the relevant flight was canceled or delayed, its distance, and the length of the delay caused. The document can also be used to claim any expenses incurred when waiting for the delayed or canceled flight.

Once this document has been completed online, it should be printed and signed. Then it should be sent to the airline with airline tickets, proof of purchases (for EU claims or if the passenger is requesting something more from a US airline) and any other applicable documentation enclosed.

It is ideal to keep a copy of everything that will be sent.

It should also be mailed to the airline, ideally via Certified Mail. After this, await the airline's response, which should arrive, in any case, promptly.

Applicable law

U.S. Law:

14 CFR 250.5

14 CFR 250.9

EU Law:

EU Regulation 261/2004

Limitation Act 1980

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.