Does the airline's excuse hold up?

The excuses airlines use

Most rejections rely on one of these. Each guide explains what the rules and the courts say, and what evidence you can ask for.

• Technical problem
  Technical faults are part of normal operations unless a manufacturer or authority flagged a hidden defect fleet-wide. How to answer a technical-fault refusal.
• Crew illness or shortage
  The EU court ruled in 2023 that a sick crew member does not excuse the airline. Finland's board applies the same logic to crew running out of duty hours.
• Air traffic control
  ATC restrictions are often accepted as extraordinary. The question is what the airline did to reroute you. That is where passengers win.
• Strike
  An airline's own staff strike is not extraordinary. ATC and airport strikes usually are. How to tell them apart and what to ask the airline for.
• Bird strike
  A bird strike is extraordinary, but only for the delay it actually caused. A one-line mention is not proof. Ask for the incident report and timeline.
• "Extraordinary circumstances" with no details
  Airlines must prove the event and that they took all reasonable measures, including rerouting on other airlines. Many refusals fail on the second part.

How the checker works

The checker reads the words in the email and looks for the excuses airlines use, in English, Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. It runs in your browser only. It cannot tell whether the excuse is true for your flight. That is for the airline to prove, and your appeal makes it do so.