The use of wet lease aircraft to cushion failures is currently not an issue for Austrian Airlines, a company spokesman clarified to Aviation.Direct. Regardless of the many flight cancellations in recent days, they are convinced that they will be stable in the air, especially during the summer holidays in 2022.

“Together with its partners, Austrian Airlines has prepared as well as possible for midsummer and the holiday season. All aircraft are back in the air, for forward planning more than 200 flight attendants have been hired who will now be deployed from the summer after completing their basic training. For smooth flight operations, however, the cooperation of all partners at home and abroad is also necessary (including airports, air traffic control). Strikes, such as the recent strike by air traffic control in Marseille, or storms are factors that affect flight operations or make adjustments necessary. In addition, the rapid increase in corona sufferers in Austria is also reflected in the workforce of Austrian Airlines," explains a company spokesman, explaining AUA's point of view.

Furthermore: “In order to bridge current bottlenecks at airports, security checks and other system partners or to relieve the system in general and, above all, due to the short-term corona sick leave of the flying staff, Austrian Airlines had to make adjustments to the flight schedule last weekend. Flight operations have stabilized again today. We lease flights from other airlines for Austrian Airlines are therefore not planned from the current perspective. Austrian Airlines is doing everything it can to ensure the greatest possible stability of the flight schedule and, in particular, to prevent the cancellation of classic holiday flights. The flights affected are mainly city flights or destinations in Europe such as Stuttgart, Bucharest, Copenhagen or Hanover, which can be combined with other Austrian flights or for which the network of other airlines within the Lufthansa Group can be used to find alternatives To offer flight connections Austrian Airlines expects scheduled flight operations in the coming days, but this depends heavily on the further course of the corona situation. As in the previous summers, adjustments to flight operations are generally always possible and cannot be ruled out, especially since the flight schedule can also be influenced by many other, external factors (system partners at home and abroad, security checks, weather, etc.)".

Austrian Airlines does not rebook to all airlines

If an airline cancels a flight, passengers are entitled to alternative boarding even if the cancellation occurs outside of the 14-day period. This is only relevant in connection with compensation payments. However, rebookings do not work smoothly with all providers.

EU Regulation 261/2004 clearly states that passengers have the right to substitute boarding at the earliest opportunity. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly stated that this also expressly means that the airline has to rebook with another airline and not just on its own flights or within the same alliance.

In Vienna there is a black sheep, Wizz Air, who basically refuses to rebook to other airlines and refers to a questionable clause in the general terms and conditions. Put simply, this means that you only have the right to rebook on another Wizz Air flight to this destination or to the region you were originally supposed to fly to. If the worst comes to the worst, those affected have no choice but to first buy a replacement ticket out of their own pocket and then assert this with the help of a lawyer or a consumer protection campaign from the low-cost airline. As a rule, the Hungarian low coster pays at the latest when a complaint is served. So it can be an advantage if you have legal protection insurance that covers such disputes.

Austrian Airlines does not take the law very seriously when it comes to rebookings, because even if Ryanair or Wizz Air, for example, have free seats, you do not rebook on these airlines. To make matters worse, the Supreme Court of all things found in a case against the AUA that they have to rebook on the next possible flight - regardless of which airline. The verdict from 2018 has still not really got around, because the processes for rebooking in the event of flight irregularities have not changed to date. They are still of the opinion that you only have to rebook on airlines with which you have a contract. This practice does not correspond to EU regulation 261/2004, the case law of the Supreme Court or the European Court of Justice.

A spokesman for Austrian Airlines explained in general terms on the subject of rebooking in the event of flight cancellations: “Passengers will be informed immediately if their flight changes and, if possible, rebooked on other flights by our employees at the stations/ticket counters. The rebooking takes place on flights within the Lufthansa Group, the Star Alliance and other airlines. There is no such rebooking agreement within the Lufthansa Group with Ryanair or Wizz. One reason for this is, among other things, the different passenger handling processes of these airlines (e.g. check-in modalities) and the lack of options for rebooking on connecting flights in order to transport our guests to their desired destination.”