08/08/2025
Today, 8 August 2025, a new European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) titled “Save your right, save your flight!” officially launched its signature collection campaign. This effort stands as a direct response to a concerning proposal currently circulating in the Council: raising the minimum delay required for flight compensation from three to four hours, and even to six hours for long-haul flights, while also reducing compensation amounts for many routes. For most travellers, this proposal would mean virtually no compensation at all — a quiet rollback of protections that have been in place for over 20 years.
As the campaign organisers argue, “These rights were introduced for a reason. When your flight is seriously delayed or cancelled, you deserve more than an apology. We should not be solving administrative delays by lowering the bar for accountability”.
The initiative calls on EU citizens to stand up for rules that genuinely work, not weaken them, whether it’s a student on a budget flight, a parent travelling with children, or a worker heading home, compensation matters when things go wrong.
Among the initiators is Professor Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, who emphasises the importance of giving travelers a voice in EU decision-making.
To compel a formal response from the European Commission, the campaign must gather one million verified signatures from at least seven EU member states. But beyond the numbers, this initiative is about citizens having a voice in decisions that affect their everyday lives .
From 8 August, all EU citizens can support the initiative through the official platform hosted by the European Commission .