LATAM rejected your compensation claim: what to do next
Do not accept a LATAM compensation rejection until it states which coverage, operator, timing or extraordinary-circumstance fact defeats the claim. Compare the response with the original route, one-ticket final destination, actual operating airline and arrival record. If LATAM uses a broad phrase such as “operational reasons,” “weather” or “air traffic restrictions,” request the specific event, causal link and reasonable measures. Correct any genuine weakness before escalating.
Free eligibility check
Check your case in the form
Enter your route, date and type of disruption. We will check whether your case qualifies for a claim under EU 261/2004 or UK261.
What happened to your flight?
Claim up to €600 for a delayed or cancelled flight.
Choose the situation that applies to your flight:
Some refusals are legally sound. A LATAM-operated Sao Paulo-Madrid journey usually is outside EU261, and ordinary delay under three hours does not produce fixed compensation. The aim is not to contest every answer; it is to separate valid filters from unsupported conclusions.
Rejection audit table
| LATAM's reason | What to verify |
|---|---|
| “EU261 does not apply” | Departure airport, operator nationality and ticket structure |
| “Delay below three hours” | Final destination and aircraft-door opening time |
| “Extraordinary weather” | Airport, time, actual restriction and recovery measures |
| “Air traffic control” | Specific slot or closure affecting this flight |
| “Technical issue outside our control” | Whether the fault was ordinary airline activity |
| “Another carrier is responsible” | E-ticket “operated by” line and wet-lease responsibility |
| “Claim already settled” | What refund, voucher or payment actually covered |
Reply to the ground that matters. A long restatement of EU261 will not fix an inbound route outside its scope.
Test territorial coverage again
LATAM is a non-EU and non-UK airline group. EU261 can cover a LATAM departure from an EU/EEA/Swiss airport; UK261 can cover a departure from a UK airport. A LATAM-operated flight beginning in Latin America and arriving in Europe normally falls outside both.
If LATAM rejects Madrid-Sao Paulo by saying it is not a European airline, the answer is incomplete: operator nationality is irrelevant for an EU departure. Cite the origin and Article 3 coverage. If LATAM rejects Sao Paulo-Madrid on the same carrier-status basis, the refusal may be correct unless an EU airline actually operated the flight or the sector belonged to a different protected journey.
Do not confuse destination with origin. Use the LATAM coverage guide and its separate inbound analysis before challenging this point.
Verify the operating carrier
LATAM may have sold a flight operated by Iberia, British Airways, Delta or another partner. Conversely, an IB or BA marketing code can appear on a flight physically operated within the LATAM group. The statutory respondent is normally the operating carrier.
Attach the e-ticket line, boarding pass and disruption notice. If those records conflict, ask LATAM to identify the aircraft-and-crew operator and the contracting affiliate. A generic brand response saying “not our flight” should specify the responsible airline and basis.
Wet lease requires additional care. EU guidance can treat the carrier with operational responsibility as operating airline even where another company supplies aircraft and crew. Do not infer responsibility from livery alone. The LATAM operator and entity guide handles these distinctions.
Recalculate final arrival
A connection claim can be rejected because LATAM measures only the first flight. If a protected one-ticket journey began in Europe or the UK, arrival at the ticketed final destination can control. Provide the full itinerary, original onward boarding record, replacement routing and actual final door-opening time.
For example, Madrid-GRU-Recife arrives at GRU 2 hours 15 minutes late and Recife 6 hours late after the connection is missed. “Delay below three hours” at GRU does not answer the final-destination case. If GRU-Recife was a separate ticket, however, GRU may indeed be the endpoint of the EU261 booking.
Arrival is not touchdown. If LATAM used runway time, provide door-opening or gate-arrival evidence. Be precise around the three- and four-hour thresholds because a few minutes can decide entitlement or a 50% reduction.
Cancellation notice and rerouting windows
A response may state that the cancellation was announced more than 14 days in advance. Verify the first reliable notice and its timestamp. A schedule change hidden in My Trips is not necessarily proof of when the passenger was informed.
With less notice, inspect the exact replacement departure and arrival. The statutory windows differ according to notice timing. Accepting rerouting does not erase compensation automatically, but arrival sufficiently close to the original schedule can do so or reduce the amount.
If LATAM claims the passenger selected a voluntary change, preserve the original cancellation message and screen flow. A choice made after the airline removed the original flight is not necessarily an ordinary passenger-initiated change.
Weather: ask where and when
Severe weather can be extraordinary, but a weather map somewhere in the network is insufficient. Ask LATAM for:
- the airport and time of the relevant condition;
- the operational restriction or safety consequence;
- the flight or aircraft rotation affected;
- when the restriction ended;
- why reasonable rerouting, crew or aircraft measures were unavailable.
Compare airport notices and other operations cautiously. Other flights departing does not prove LATAM could safely operate this flight, but it can justify a more specific explanation. A later internal recovery failure should not be blended invisibly into the original storm.
Care rights can survive weather. If the journey was covered, hotel and reasonable meal reimbursement should not be rejected merely because fixed compensation is unavailable.
ATC, airport closure and security
Air-traffic-flow restrictions, runway closure or security incidents can qualify as external events. Request the notice, slot or affected period, not confidential material unrelated to the claim. The important issue is whether this event caused the flight and whether LATAM mitigated its effects.
An inbound aircraft delayed by an earlier ATC restriction can produce a knock-on explanation. LATAM should establish the aircraft rotation and why the disruption remained unavoidable. The longer the gap and more extensive the network recovery opportunity, the more useful a reasonable-measures explanation becomes.
Technical faults and “operational reasons”
Ordinary unexpected technical defects are generally inherent in airline operation under established EU261 case law. A component failure or routine wear does not become extraordinary merely because it was not predicted. Hidden manufacturing defects, sabotage or certain external events can differ.
Ask for the nature of the fault without demanding protected engineering detail. Was it a routine aircraft defect, bird strike, collision by third-party equipment, manufacturer-wide safety order or something else? The legal category depends on the occurrence.
“Operational reasons” can include rotation, crew, aircraft availability or commercial choices. It is not a complete extraordinary-circumstance defence. Request the underlying fact and reasonable measures.
Vouchers, refunds and alleged settlement
LATAM may say the matter was resolved because it returned the fare or issued wallet credit. Fixed compensation, refund and expenses are separate. Review the offer and consent:
- Was the payment a fare refund or statutory compensation?
- Did the passenger freely agree to a voucher?
- Was any release clear and specific?
- Did the amount match every passenger?
- Were care costs addressed?
Do not demand double payment for the same category. Do not allow an unexplained refund to extinguish a different qualifying claim. Attach the transaction record and write the remaining balance by remedy.
A focused reply template
“Your response rejects the claim as weather-related but does not identify the weather event, affected airport, timing, causal link or reasonable measures. The protected LATAM-operated journey departed Madrid and arrived at its one-ticket final destination, Lima, 5 hours 42 minutes late. Please provide the specific extraordinary circumstance and mitigation relied upon, and reassess EUR 600 for each of passengers A and B. The original itinerary, final arrival record and care receipts are attached.”
Change the text to fit the evidence. Never allege an ordinary technical fault if no source supports that conclusion.
When LATAM's refusal is probably right
Accept or redirect the case when evidence shows:
- the LATAM-operated journey began in Latin America and no EU/UK operator exception exists;
- final arrival was below three hours for a delay claim;
- cancellation notice and rerouting fall within the exemption windows;
- the passenger volunteered a seat on agreed terms;
- denial arose from missing documents or late gate arrival;
- a substantiated extraordinary event caused the disruption despite reasonable measures;
- another airline was genuinely the operating carrier.
A correct decision may still leave a refund, care, local-law or baggage remedy. Reframe the claim rather than repeating an unavailable fixed sum.
Escalate with a clean record
Preserve the original LATAM case, all attachments, rejection and your focused reply. External bodies need a traceable prior complaint. The appropriate route follows the covered departure and the type of remedy; CAA, national enforcement, ADR, mediation and court are not interchangeable.
Use the LATAM escalation guide after LATAM has had a fair chance to correct the response. The future EU procedural reform is not a shortcut: on 25 August 2026 its later application timetable still matters.
FAQ
Is “operational reasons” a valid extraordinary circumstance?
Not by itself. Ask LATAM to identify the underlying event, causal link and reasonable measures before accepting the conclusion.
Can LATAM reject an EU departure because it is not an EU airline?
No. EU261 covers departures from protected EU/EEA/Swiss airports on any operating airline, assuming the remaining conditions are met.
What if LATAM calculated delay only to the connection airport?
Provide one-booking evidence and actual arrival at the final ticketed destination. Separate tickets may lead to a different endpoint.
Does a refund settle my compensation claim?
Not automatically. Identify whether the payment reimbursed unused fare or expressly settled fixed compensation, and avoid claiming the same category twice.
Should I escalate every rejected claim?
No. Correct weak coverage, timing or operator cases first. Escalate when the evidence and applicable regime support the claim and LATAM remains unresolved.