Can I get compensation for cancelled Boeing 737 Max 8 flight?

Airlines grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 planes and countries banned their flights after Ethiopian Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed. Can you get flight cancellation compensation for these flights?

Ethiopian Air crash was the second this type of Boeing crash in past 8 months. For this reason many airlines grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. There were also banned flights over Singapore, China, Malaysia, Australia and UK airspace.

Norwegian was the first of the biggest European carriers which grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. There were more airlines, which did that also: Air China, AirItaly, Fuzhou Airlines, Aerolineas Argentinas, Lion Air,  AeroMexico, Kunming Airlines, TUI Airways, Cayman Airways, United Airlines, Mongolian Airlines (MIAT), China Eastern Airlines, TUI Fly Belgium, China Southern Airlines, Comair, Flydubai, Easter Jet, Enter Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Jet Airway, Gol Transportes Aéreos, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air Sweden, Hainan Airlines, Lucky Air, OKAir, TUI Fly Nordic, Air Canada, WestJet, Turkish Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Icelandair, Shandong Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, SilkAir, Xiamen Air, 9air.com, Smartwings.

EU banned B737 Max 8 flights. American Airlines recently cancelled 90 flights per day from April 24 because of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes. This carrier decided to take action in advance before the decision to ground them of FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in order to provide more certainty and avoid last minute flight cancellations.

What is more, air passengers whose flights were cancelled due to B737 Max 8 aircrafts grounding should know that their rights are protected by EU 261 Regulation. Airlines should provide food and beverages, telephone calls, internet, email or fax if flights are delayed for more than 2 hours. Furthermore, in cases then passengers have to wait overnight for another flight, they should be provided with accommodation and transfer from and to the airport. In these cases air passengers should collect all the necessary receipts that airlines could cover their expenses.

Finally, can you get cancelled flight compensation due to B737 Max 8 aircrafts grounding under EU 261 Regulation? Unfortunately, B737 Max 8 aircrafts grounding is an extraordinary circumstance as it is effect of flaws inherent in the plane’s design, and flights cancellations happen due to aircraft manufacturing defect. This means you can’t get cancelled flight compensation due to B737 Max 8 planes grounding. However, other rules of EU 261 Regulation still apply and airlines must take care of their passengers during flight delay.