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The agreement states that American Airlines is not liable for special or consequential damages resulting from delays, cancellations, or disruptions caused by events beyond its control, including weather, government actions, and air traffic control decisions.
This analysis describes what American Airlines's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision limits American's contractual obligations during irregular operations caused by external factors, which are among the most common sources of passenger disruption. The practical scope of this limitation depends on route type and applicable regulatory frameworks, including DOT customer service plan requirements and EU Regulation 261/2004 for EU-departing flights.
Interpretive note: The scope of the force majeure definition as applied to specific disruption events may vary in practice; EU Regulation 261/2004's extraordinary circumstances standard operates independently and may produce different outcomes for EU-departing flights.
The updated Terms of Use no longer include explicit statements about how American Airlines uses performance cookies to analyze site usage and track popular pages, or how functional cookies remember your preferences like language and region settings. Previously, the terms disclosed that cookies are essential to site operation and cannot be rejected. The removal of these disclosures means users visiting the American Airlines website will not find this granular explanation of cookie purposes in the terms themselves, though cookie collection may continue through other disclosure mechanisms such as a separate privacy policy or cookie banner.
View change record →This new provision extends the consequential damages exemption specifically to force majeure events, further limiting passenger recovery for service failures.
View full change record →Under this clause, American Airlines excludes liability for consequential damages arising from delays or cancellations attributable to force majeure events, including weather and government actions. Passengers on EU-departing flights retain independent rights under EU Regulation 261/2004, which includes extraordinary circumstances carve-outs that may differ in scope from the CoC's force majeure definition.
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Monitoring
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"American is not responsible for any special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from flight delays, cancellations, or other service failures caused by events beyond American's control, including but not limited to weather, acts of government, air traffic control decisions, or other force majeure events.Excerpt from American Airlines's Terms of Use
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Force majeure provisions in airline contracts of carriage are standard and generally consistent with DOT regulatory practice in the U.S. domestic context. However, DOT's customer service plan requirements under 14 CFR Part 259 require airlines to commit to specific passenger care obligations during controllable delays, independent of the CoC's force majeure clause. EU Regulation 261/2004 defines extraordinary circumstances narrowly and places the burden of proof on the carrier; American Airlines flights departing EU airports are subject to this independent regulatory framework. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The CoC's force majeure definition is broader than the EU Regulation 261/2004 extraordinary circumstances standard, creating a gap in consumer entitlements for EU-departing passengers that the airline's CoC alone does not resolve. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU and UK passengers on American Airlines flights departing those jurisdictions have independent statutory rights that are not displaced by the CoC's force majeure provisions. Domestic U.S. passengers are subject to the CoC terms as stated, subject to DOT customer service plan commitments. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Corporate travel agreements should specify what rebooking, meal, and accommodation assistance American will provide during force majeure delays, as the CoC itself does not enumerate those commitments in detail. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should map the CoC's force majeure provisions against American's DOT-filed customer service plan commitments to identify any gaps in disclosed passenger care obligations during irregular operations.
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This provision limits American's contractual obligations during irregular operations caused by external factors, which are among the most common sources of passenger disruption. The practical scope of this limitation depends on route type and applicable regulatory frameworks, including DOT customer service plan requirements and EU Regulation 261/2004 for EU-departing flights.
Under this clause, American Airlines excludes liability for consequential damages arising from delays or cancellations attributable to force majeure events, including weather and government actions. Passengers on EU-departing flights retain independent rights under EU Regulation 261/2004, which includes extraordinary circumstances carve-outs that may differ in scope from the CoC's force majeure definition.
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